The Widow
by Subjockey
Summary: A fatal accident aboard Seaview leaves Lee battling PTSD, sending him straight into the arms of a recently widowed woman, whose secrets threaten his very life. Note: Genre is a Thriller.
1. Chapter 1

**The Widow**

By Subjockey

 **Chapter One**

"Just a little further, Lee," Lauren urged calmly, as she guided him to the garage. He was leaning heavily on her, his arm wrapped over her shoulder and shuffling his feet along as best he could.

"Did you call, Jamie?" he breathed out, gasping in between words.

"Yes Darling, I'm taking you to Med Bay? Remember?" she replied, opening the car door and helping him into the passenger seat. He groaned, holding his mid-section as she adjusted his seat to recline back. "There Darling, now I'll be right back, I have to get my purse," she explained to her husband of three months. "Don't worry, you'll be in Dr. Jamieson's care soon, My Love," she promised, placing her hand along his face and smiling thinly, her words issued with little emotion and even less concern.

Lee nodded, in too much pain to notice her strange disposition... distant, emotionless for the obvious emergency at hand, and oddly calm.

Lauren Crane left him in the car and walked purposefully back into the house, grabbing a prepacked suitcase and a blanket from the linen closet. She carried them to the car, depositing the suitcase in the trunk of her sedan, having opted to leave the Cobra behind, and stopping to place the blanket on Lee, tucking it in as she spoke.

"There now," she whispered in his ear. "You just rest Lee, it will all be over soon."

"Hurts..." he gasped airily.

"I know Dearest, but Dr. Jamieson will know what to do."

He nodded slightly, as she shut the car door and headed back into the house. She pulled out a box from the pantry closet, already partly filled with canned goods and added additional fresh supplies from the refrigerator and freezer, not hurrying her movements even though her husband was obviously gravely ill. She checked over her supplies, satisfying herself that she had most of what she needed and carried the box to the garage door, stopping to grab her purse on the way out.

After depositing the box into the trunk she slid into the driver's side and glanced at Lee. As she suspected, he had drifted off to sleep. The sound of the automatic garage door woke him, however, as he slowly rolled his head her direction.

"It's okay, Lee. You're going to be okay," she recited almost clinically, before backing out and heading for the highway.

His eyes slowly closed as she drove the familiar foothill road, turning to take the highway north, in the opposite direction of NIMR. Lauren Crane smiled, the mild sedative kicking in as her husband slipped into a light sleep where he could still be roused if necessary. She drove north to the cabin that had recently been acquired with cash. Even Lee didn't know about it; it was their own private getaway, where the outside world couldn't bother them.

She sighed contently at the thought, while sporting a strange, eerie smile as her passenger groaned in his sleep, his pain reaching even beyond the sedative as she drove onward, unaffected by his distress.

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lee drifted off to a pained sleep, a flash of light taking him instantly to a dream where he stood on the edge of an open grave, watching a coffin lowering into the pit below. The "widow", dressed in a black dress, stood on the opposite side of the grave, dabbing her eyes under her black lace veil. The coffin reached its destination six feet below, as the grave diggers paused for her to toss in the first handful of dirt. She reached down, picking up the loose soil at her feet and held it out over the coffin, allowing it to sprinkle slowly onto the box below. Lee watched as the dark soil suddenly turned into a white powder, dropping to the coffin and heaping into a large peak before she stepped away, allowing the grave diggers to finish their job._

The disturbing dream invoked an uncomfortable twitch in Lee's cheek as he tried desperately to wake himself, but the sedative even at its low dose, was too strong in his weakened condition. Thankfully, however, he managed to shake the dream... at least for the time being, as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

 **VTTBOTS**

Lauren Crane glanced over, smiling at her sleeping passenger, currently out to the world. She sighed contently, refocusing on the road in front of her and enjoying the drive along Highway 1 with the ocean to her left and the coastal mountains to her right. Her thoughts drifted wistfully back, recalling their whirlwind romance. They'd only been married three months, and had known each other only a few months prior before she snagged Commander Lee Crane. Of course, it had been a rocky road leading to their elopement, with her late husband's death being less than two months prior. Lee and Rod had been good friends, and it had been quite natural for her to accept his offer to help after the funeral. She rather thought Rod would have been pleased to see how close they had become; all the hours they had spent together dealing with the legalities of being a military widow, and then the late evenings when he held her, offering comfort in her sorrow.

It just happened; she needed someone in her sorrow and apparently, so did he.

He had opened up that he was recovering from a traumatic event aboard his submarine, one that had affected him greatly, leaving him with fitful dreams and little sleep at night. With Rod gone, she needed someone to talk to, as well as someone to take care of. Lee was both, and she soon came to realize that he needed her just as much as she needed him.

Of course, Lee's friends hadn't been too pleased with his involvement with a newly widowed woman. She endured the expected accusations of finding love so soon after losing a mate, spoken bluntly by his so-called friends. Her affection was questioned as "rebound love", while Lee was accused of needing a crutch to lean on since he was officially diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was, in fact, on leave with the Nelson Institute, partly because of the PTSD; partly because he was finding it difficult to deal with the attitude of his friends, and their constant questioning of his wisdom in taking a wife in "his condition".

She rolled her eyes under her dark sunglasses and then glanced back at Lee as he moaned and tossed his head.

 _Poor Lee_ , she thought distantly, _caught in another nightmare_ , she supposed and smiled at how the mountain air would do him good. The thought brought a content smile to her face as she reached over and pulled the blanket higher to his chest, then patted it reassuringly, before resuming her attention on the windy road ahead.

 **VTTBOTS**

Another flash of light preceded Lee's dream as his face scrunched at the unpleasant memory. Chip was yelling at him, but the words were strangely muted until the dream slowly came into focus, as if the reception were being dialed in slowly; then suddenly, both the picture and the volume sharpened as he heard the blond shouting angrily at him.

" _You've got to be kidding, Lee! Of all the_ _ **stupid**_ _…"_

He tossed his head at the uncomfortable memory as his stomach continued to cramp, his strength slowly ebbing away. He had alienated his friends, quite purposefully he knew; but right now the only thing that mattered was Lauren. Rod would understand… he was sure of it. On that thought, his dream settled on the first night he and Lauren had given in to their attraction for one another. It had happened so fast…

" _Here, let me help you with that," Lee offered, reaching for the box Lauren was carrying downstairs; it was packed with Rod's things, and only being a Navy wife for a little less than a year, she hadn't known what was important to keep and what she should donate to goodwill. Her shoulder length dark hair framed her face in soft curls that brought out her incredible blue eyes._

" _Thanks, Lee," she said, dabbing a tear from the corner of her eye. "I had no idea this would be so hard," she admitted._

" _It's all right," he reassured her, placing the box on the floor between them as they sat on the sofa._

" _You know, some people think it's strange that I would want to go through this so soon, but Lee, it tears me apart every time I come across his things up there," she said, sobbing on her last words._

" _Hey, it's all right," he said, scooting closer on the sofa and reaching to offer a reassuring hug as she sobbed against his chest. "Everyone deals with death differently," he added sadly._

 _She stopped her sobbing and sat back, watching tears swell in his eyes as his own comforting words brought back his own pain. He swallowed hard, not wanting the memories to take him over… "Not in front of her… Not right now," he begged himself._

 _Her eyes turned soft, recognizing his struggle as she reached up and cupped his face. "I'm sorry Lee, it's selfish of me to cry like this when you're in so much pain yourself."_

 _Lee stood up, breaking the connection of her touch, while turning to face the wall. His mind was full of conflicting emotions: first, the comfort of her touch, he shouldn't be craving it, he argued with himself; those thoughts were followed by the picture of his crewman's death replaying over and over in his mind; his screams of pain playing endlessly in his head… even now they were tormenting him as he reached up to cover his ears._

" _Not now!" He begged himself, afraid he would lose himself completely, reliving the gruesome death in another flashback._

" _Lee," Lauren said, placing a hand on his shoulder and feeling him shudder under her touch._

 _He couldn't talk just yet, so he lowered his hands from his ears, placing one hand to cover hers and holding it tight until the tormenting screams stopped. She didn't move, patiently allowing him to recover until he found his voice again._

" _I'm sorry…" he started, ashamed he had broken down in front of her._

" _Shhhh," she hushed, pulling her hand gently from his grasp and then wrapping both arms around him from behind. She laid her head on his back as he continued to face the wall, her embrace offering the warmth of her body pressed softly against his._

 _His head dropped slowly to see her soft hands against his stomach as she held him tight. Slowly, he reached his hands to cover hers and drank in the comfort as she anchored him; his flashback receding back into his mind and not playing before his eyes any longer._

 _What would Rod think about him taking comfort from his widow, and he wasn't even a month cold in the grave? he asked, silently chastising himself._

 _She seemed to know what he was thinking and pulled him in even closer. Now her body was pressed so closely to his that he couldn't ignore what her feminine touch was igniting. She flattened her hands against his stomach, her fingers moving slowly and deliberately. He should have pulled away; been the strong one, but his strength had been drained away by the last month of torment. He loosened his hold on her hands, allowing her to brush her touch up and down his abdomen, toward his chest and then back down again. He breathed in deeply, soaking in her touch and the undeniable excitement of her bosom resting against back. Suddenly, he could resist no longer._

 _Lee breathed in deeply, exhaling his reluctance and giving in to both his physical and emotional needs. He turned sharply to face her, embracing her by the small of her back and bringing her even closer. He stopped to drink in her gaze for only a moment, before lowering his mouth and indulging in a long, passionate kiss; her willing mouth returning all the fervor of his passion as she reached to draw him to press firmly against her._

" _Oh Lee, I've wanted this for so long," she admitted in a breathy whisper, as they parted while Lee applied heated kisses to her face and neck._

 _His mouth moved closer to her ear as he whispered, "I shouldn't be doing this."_

" _I need you, Lee. Please_ _ **,**_ _don't stop," she begged, reaching for his face and kissing him hard, igniting more fire in his veins as they made love on living room sofa._

 _Their passion satiated, he leaned in to place gentle kisses to her face before getting his senses back, instantly thinking about what Rod would say knowing he just made love to his widow. She sensed his apprehension and wrapped her arms around him, caressing his back and running her fingers through his hair._

" _No regrets, Lee," she said airily. "No regrets. I needed you, I needed you so bad."_

" _I needed you too," he admitted, "but…"_

" _No buts, Lee. Just rest, my love," she whispered, as he surrendered to her comforting touch completely, falling asleep in her embrace._

 _It was more than the physical exertion of their feverish love-making; it was weeks without sleep and no peace, and now that he had tasted of the peace he didn't want to let go. He decided right then and there_ not _to let go, willingly surrendering to her touch as she soothed away his torment._

Another flash of light interrupted the scene and once again Lee was faced with Chip's angry outburst.

" _You've got to be kidding, Lee! Of all the stupid,_ _ **idiotic**_ _…"_

He shook free of the unpleasant memory assailing him, and groaned as his cramps sharpened, only partially aware that he was in the car.

"Jamie?" he called out in his sleep, needing Seaview's doctor to end the pain and not completely aware of his surroundings.

"It's all right, Darling," Lauren said. "Remember, I told you I was taking you to Med Bay," she added soothingly, even though she was already an hour north of Santa Barbara.

His weakness persisted, aided by the light sedative she had spiked him with earlier as Lee closed his eyes, praying they'd reach Med Bay soon.

 **VTTBOTS**

Lauren smiled as Lee drifted back to sleep, her strange contentment incongruent with the sounds of distress coming from the passenger seat, choosing instead to focus fondly on their decision to marry.

They had spent a lot of time together since Rod's death only two months prior, and had hardly parted since their first encounter together.

" _Are you sure about this, Lee?" Lauren asked, holding the solitary diamond ring still in its box._

" _You're the only thing I am sure about," he admitted with his hazel eyes misting in emotion. She responded by cupping his face with her hand as he continued. "I love you, and it feels right. I don't think I need any more reason than that."_

 _She nodded her agreement and placed a gentle kiss to his lips, then parted with a sigh. "I love you, and it feels right to me too."_

 _Lee smiled, but it faded quickly._

" _Are you ready for what people might say, taking this step so soon after Rod?" he asked tentatively._

" _Rod would want me to move on," she answered with a shrug of her shoulder. "What about you, Lee? You still haven't told them, have you?"_

" _It's not their decision," he stated flatly._

 _He'd been on leave for almost two months, only going into the Institute for his weekly visits with Dr. Jamieson, who was monitoring his progress, having been forced to take an extended leave due to the flashbacks that still plagued him. He'd been officially diagnosed with a severe case of PTSD, and had been temporarily relieved of his command. "This is_ _my_ _life," he added confidently, "and I deserve some happiness. I want you to be my wife."_

" _Then yes, Lee, I will marry you."_

 _He pulled her into an embrace, the anxiety of whether she would accept his proposal still running through his body, as he dealt with insecurities he wasn't used to feeling. Never in his life had he felt so vulnerable to his emotions, and yet the only peace he felt from the torment of his crewmember's violent death, was when he was with her._

Lauren smiled at the memory; they had driven to Tahoe that very day and were married in a wedding chapel. Of course, Admiral Nelson and Chip Morton weren't happy about it when he went to the Nelson Institute to change his marital status and add her as his Beneficiary. He had come home that day especially upset; having let loose his anger on his so-called friends for attempting to interfere in his private life, and apparently the scene had been an ugly one. He had avoided both Nelson and Morton since that day, and only kept his appointments with Jamieson because he was ordered to participate in the therapy or forfeit his position as captain of the Seaview.

Their first month of marriage passed quickly, but apparently Nelson and Morton still hadn't accepted the marriage and had told him so after his latest session with Dr. Jamieson. It had taken her most of the afternoon to help him past the uncomfortable exchange and subsequently insisted on accompanying him to his next appointment at the Institute. It had been a difficult session as Jamieson insisted on showing Lee photos from the incident aboard Seaview that had mangled the young seaman's body beyond recognition.

" _Mrs. Crane, I'd like for you to sit over here, please," Jamie directed, noting Lee's tight hand hold and his reluctance to let go. The doctor had made it clear that he was fervently against having her there, but relented upon Lee's insistence that he would walk out if she weren't allowed to stay._

 _Lauren carefully tugged her hand free while reassuring her husband that she was near, before taking the chair in the corner. Lee's eyes fixated on her movements, returning his attention to Jamie only after she sat down, nodding for him to continue._

" _I want to talk about the accident, Lee," Jamie started only to be interrupted._

" _We've already talked about it."_

 _Jamie nodded; his face even as he pulled a manila folder from under his clipboard and handed it to Lee._

" _What's this?"_

" _Open it and find out."_

 _Lee took a deep breath in and opened the folder, assaulted immediately with the sight of the crewman's body lying on the Missile Room deck. His hands shook at the gruesome scene of the mangled body in the dive suit; an arm was missing below the elbow and a large bite mark was all that was left of one side of his chest. Lee drew a nervous hand to his mouth, at the sight of the dismembered foot still in its fin, lying on the floor next to the body. The face mask was still on the young diver, and the bottom of his face had large lacerations that disfigured his features._

" _Is this necessary?" he asked with a glare. "I was there, remember?"_

" _I understand, Lee," Jamie answered in a monotone voice that offered neither concession nor comfort. "Please look at the next picture, Captain."_

 _Lee swallowed, not able to gain strength from Lauren whom Jamie had purposely placed behind him, but from her position, had a full view of the photos he was currently viewing. He placed the photo face down on the table in front of him, instantly revealing the next photograph in the stack. The gruesome scene invoked a gasp as he quickly shut the folder and slammed it down on the table._

" _Pick up the folder, Lee," Jamie instructed, offering no sympathy to Seaview's captain in either his voice or his demeanor._

" _I was there… I don't need to see the crewman again," he argued heatedly._

" _Pick it up," Jamie ordered, not backing down, his medical authority clearly outranking Lee's in these sessions._

 _Lee attempted to hide his palpable fear behind his very real glare as he stared down Jamieson. There was a full minute of uncomfortable silence before he reached for the folder and opened it back up to view the next photograph. The crewman's facemask had been removed, revealing the distorted features of Patterson; his distinctive baby face was easily recognizable, even though the bottom half of his face had been horribly disfigured in the shark attack._

" _Do you recognize your 'crewman'?" Jamie asked, pushing for an answer and knowing that up to this point, Lee had refused to identify Patterson by name in a strange case of denial._

 _Lee shook violently. "Damn it, Jamie! What do you want from me?"_

" _Tell me who the crewman is, Lee," Jamie insisted, not relenting to his patient's torment._

" _I can't!"_

" _Who is the crewman, Captain Crane?" Jamie yelled back._

" _Patterson, all right?! Are you satisfied?" he screamed, standing and turning toward the mirror behind him and ignoring Lauren in the corner. "Is that what you wanted to hear, Admiral Nelson? I know you're back there!" he accused, knowing full-well the two-way mirror was currently in use. "Patterson's dead! Is that what you wanted to hear from me?" he demanded. "You bastard!" he added, choking on his words as his voice broke with emotion._

 _Lauren rose from her feet, but Jamie's sharp glance her direction warned her to stay put._

" _It's all right, Captain," Jamie soothed, clearly satisfied with the break-through._

 _Lee had been unable to deal with the fact that Patterson had been attacked right in front of him. Even now, he could see the whole event playing before him, as a flashback suddenly enveloped Lee._

 _Lee discharged his own spear gun but missed as the shark thrashed about with Patterson tightly in its grip, the sounds of his pain and terror playing loudly through the com system. Lee resorted to punching the shark in the nose to get it to release his shipmate, giving the Shark Watch a clear shot with their spear guns. As soon as Patterson was free, Lee swam his limp body back to the dive hatch, with the Shark Watch detail following close behind. He held the young man in his arms, even as the water around them tinted red at the fantastic blood loss. He held tightly, ignoring the large gash missing from Pat's side as the water pumped out. When the hatch finally opened he found he couldn't move; his were eyes fixated on the damage inflicted by the shark. They practically had to pry Patterson from his arms and even then, he was unable to move on his own, frozen in place and lost in a state of shock as crewmen helped him out. He stood in a daze as crewmen held him steady, looking down at Patterson's mangled body, his face half-eaten away and a shark's tooth still embedded in his side. His knees buckled when one of the crewmen retrieved Patterson's flipper from the dive hatch with his foot still attached, but it was Kowalski's accusations that sealed his distress._

" _You killed him, Captain Crane! He was your dive partner, you were supposed to watch out for each other!" he screamed, as tears ran down the ratings face, his sorrow for his long-time friend inconsolable._

" _I… I tried, Ski…" Lee stammered._

" _You_ _ **froze**_ _out there!" Ski accused hatefully. "You were so scared you couldn't even aim straight, I saw it all from the monitor!"_

 _Indeed, the monitor sat next to the sonar station and Kowalski had had a front row seat to the devastating attack against his best friend before he was excused from his station to run to the Missile Room._

" _I… tried, Ski," he repeated looking down at his wet suit and finding Patterson's blood covering his yellow dive suit._

" _Easy Ski," Riley urged, trying to pry his friend away from the dead body on the deck as someone removed the face mask to reveal the wide-open eyes of Patterson._

 _Lee stared at Patterson until somebody finally covered his dead mangled body with a blanket. When he raised his head, he saw everyone staring at him; each one accusing him silently as Ski's words replayed in his head…"You froze out there!"_

 _When the flashback ended, Lee found himself sitting in the chair, with Lauren tightly holding his hand and willing him back to the here and now._

" _Are you back, Lee?" Jamie asked quietly._

 _He was still breathing hard when he nodded his answer._

" _He's had enough!" Lauren screamed._

" _We're making a breakthrough here, Mrs. Crane," Jamie countered._

" _No, I'm taking him home," she countered, helping Lee to rise slowly. "Come Darling, we're leaving now," she said._

" _Captain Crane," Jamie called, but Lee turned his back on the doctor and allowed his wife to lead him out of the therapy room._

 _That was the last time she was allowed to accompany him. Dr. Jamieson had insisted she stayed home, and Lee had agreed, citing his own disappointment that she had seen him breakdown so severely._

Lauren shrugged the thought off, physically raising her shoulders and lowering them in a whimsical sigh as her face took on a strange satisfied smile.

Lee's groan caught her attention as she glanced his way, before pulling off the road at a turnout. He was starting to wake and she knew that she'd have to give him another dose of sedative soon, pulling a bottle of water from the back seat and carefully measuring out a sedative dose into a small cup.

"Lee?" she called, his eyes opening into small slits at her call. "Drink this, Darling."

Lee looked at the cup and shook his head weakly at the offer.

"Drink it, Lee," she demanded, losing her soft, sweet approach of earlier as she raised his head from the reclining position, placing the cup to his lips.

He turned his head away, too weak to understand his surroundings and not completely coherent, until she lost her patience, grabbing his chin and thrusting the cup to his mouth while tilting his head back sharply until he finally drank at her command, emptying the cup completely.

"There, Darling," she said, returning to her soft, loving mood of earlier and pulling his blanket up against his chest once again. "Rest now," she urged, dabbing a few drops of water away, gently caring for him as he drifted back to an obviously uncomfortable sleep.

Lauren Crane smiled serenely, returning to the driver's side, and resuming their journey to their cabin hideaway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

" _Blood… the crimson red was almost mesmerizing as he watched it collect and drain out, offering him a strange peace… perhaps the end would come soon."_

A sudden flash of light instantly moved him from the crimson red blood to the next scene as Lee drifted along in a light sleep. Though he knew something was wrong with Lauren, he couldn't rouse himself past the sedative's influence. His pain-ridden body however, didn't allow him to rest past a light slumber, where he continued to dream.

" _Hello?" Lee greeted, picking up the telephone while turning to view Lauren standing on their deck; her sundress was gently fluttering in the wind, producing a delightful sight. She looked up and caught his gaze and tilted her head back in a laugh, while motioning for him to join her for a glass of wine on the deck. He smiled back, indicating he would be right there as soon as he dealt with the phone call._

" _Lee, it's Chip."_

 _Chip's voice broke the spell of the mesmerizing moment as his countenance instantly fell._

" _Hello Chip," he offered with little emotion, certainly not the friendly voice he would have greeted his best friend in the past._

" _I know you said you didn't want to talk to me, but I wanted to say I'm sorry and I hope you and Lauren will be happy," he offered graciously._

 _Lee turned his back on Lauren and the deck to deal with the phone call, their encounter at NIMR hadn't been a good one as Chip and Admiral Nelson had piled on thickly their disapproval of both his whirlwind romance and his hasty marriage, with both trying fervently to convince him that his "condition" had surely affected his good senses._

" _Well, that's just fine Chip," he replied, his displeasure clearly heard in his voice, "but the damage has already been done."_

" _Lee, this doesn't sound like you," Chip countered._

" _Are you going to tell me about my 'condition' again? Because if you are, you can stop right there; you don't have to like the fact that I got married without your permission or consent, but you damn well better keep it to yourself from now on."_

 _There was a moment of silence before Chip answered. "I didn't mean it that way, Lee. I just got taken by surprise is all. You've kept to yourself… we haven't talked; you're distancing yourself from both me and the Admiral. I was just worried about you, and I'd really like to talk to you in person."_

" _I'm not ready for that, Chip. Maybe later, I don't know, but I was really counting on you to be in my corner. Then again, if my 'condition'," he said the last word with heavy accented disdain and then continued, "doesn't improve, that leaves you with the captaincy doesn't it? Maybe, that's what you've wanted all along."_

" _Lee, you know that's not true," Chip started._

" _Goodbye, Chip," Lee interrupted, slamming the phone down and staring at the wall, contemplating the phone call._

" _Lee?"_

 _He turned toward the sound of Lauren's voice._

" _Are you all right, Darling? Was that Chip?" She had never met Chip, but she understood that they were once very close, their friendship going all the way back the Academy._

 _Lee nodded. He intended to brush off the conversation, but suddenly realized that his hands were trembling. He balled his fist to try and hide it and tried to breathe in deeply to stave off the signs of another flashback trying to work its way out._

 _Lauren reached for his hands and held tightly._

" _Look at me, Lee," she said calmly. "Look in my eyes and concentrate on me," she urged._

 _His mouth pursed tightly and his brow tightened, but he obeyed her words, she had helped him before and he desperately didn't want to breakdown again._

" _Shhh," she said, "That's exactly the reason why we've kept to ourselves this last month," she said as he nodded. "Someday your friends will accept me," she added with a small smile, "until then, we'll just be satisfied here in our own little world."_

 _Lee blew a breath out and drew her near. "I don't need anyone else, but you," he whispered in her ear as he soaked in the calming affect she had on him._

" _Then let's enjoy our evening, Darling," she said, tugging his hand gently toward the deck and the two tall wine glasses waiting for them._

" _I have a better idea," he said, stopping their forward movement, and tugging her back his way, before pulling her into a passionate kiss._

" _Oh Lee," she whispered, as he picked her up and carried her up the stairs towards their bedroom._

 **VTTBOTS**

" _Good morning, Darling," Lauren greeted with a kiss. She was already dressed and the smell of coffee and biscuits was wafting up the stairs._

" _You've been busy this morning," he said with a smile, as he pulled the blanket off and swung his legs to the side of the bed._

" _I've got to get downstairs and pull the biscuits out of the oven, I left you a cup of coffee on the vanity," she said, blowing him a kiss before disappearing out the door._

 _Lee made his way to the bathroom, stopping in his tracks to stare in a near panic at the solitary swim flipper and face mask sitting on the vanity counter, the sight producing an instant lump in his throat. He stepped back, sweeping his hand along the tile counter top and inadvertently bumping into his promised coffee cup. It splattered on the counter as Lee instinctively turned to find not spilt coffee, but crimson red blood on the tile. His eyes widened when he saw a shark's tooth floating in the blood and gasped, stepping back wobbly. His legs faltered as he tried to run out of the bedroom, falling instead, against the dresser and pulling a vase down with him as he landed on the floor in a thud._

" _Lee!"_

 _Lauren had heard the thud of his fall and the vase breaking from downstairs, and ran up to find Lee on the floor, shaking violently._

" _Lee! What is it, Darling?"_

" _His blood… in the bathroom," he worked out with a quivering voice._

" _I don't know what you're talking about," she noticed he hadn't shaven yet and it didn't appear that he had cut himself._

" _Patterson's flipper…" he started before swallowing hard._

" _It's all right, Lee," she soothed, but his eyes fixated as she recognized the lost look he had when he was lost in a flashback._

 _He woke later back on the bed. He could hear Lauren downstairs, and looked toward the bathroom. He stood and moved uneasily, needing to see for himself if Patterson's flipper and face mask were still there. He rested his hand on the door knob and opened it slowly, taking a deep breath and finding nothing but the usual decorations on the vanity. The coffee mug was still there, sitting in a small puddle from his earlier spill; there was of course, nothing but coffee inside the mug._

" _Lee?" he heard softly behind him._

" _I saw it, Lauren," he said with a swallow._

" _No Dearest, when I came in everything was as you see it now. I didn't touch anything; I even left the coffee cup for you to see."_

" _Am I going crazy?" he whispered._

" _No Darling, you're just ill. Just don't push it, you'll get better soon, I know it," she assured, holding onto his hand and then gentling him downstairs._

 **VTTBOTS**

The flash of light returned, instantly shifting the dream from the harrowing hallucination to the now familiar scene as Chip's blue eyes flared with passion.

" _You've got to be kidding, Lee! Of all the stupid,_ _ **idiotic**_ _…"_

Like a movie's special effects, another flash of light shifted scenes once again as he saw his blood again collecting. The crimson red contrasted against another flash of brilliantly bright lights as his eyes opened quickly, startled by the sound of a car door slamming shut.

He looked to his left, Lauren was gone and the car was parked under a light, bathing his face and encouraging him to waken. His right hand faltered for the door handle while he tried to lift himself from his reclining position. He knew something was wrong inside; his whole body ached terribly as he clumsily succeeded in both sitting up and opening the door. He managed to stand, using the open door to steady himself and noted that they were parked at a gas station. The fact that their car wasn't at the pumps awaiting a fill-up suggested that Lauren had stopped to find a bathroom.

A quick survey of the surrounding area confirmed that they weren't in Santa Barbara any longer, but instead, surrounded by tall pine trees. Lee spotted what he was looking for across the dark parking lot as the illuminated telephone booth called to him like a lighthouse. He tested his legs with a few steps; though he was weak he was sure he could still make it.

He reached into a pocket and deposited the first coin he pulled out, a quarter, but found he couldn't see straight to press the key pad in front of him. Concentrating intently, he found one button and pushed it.

"Operator," the voice replied in identification.

"Operator, I need your help…"

But his call was interrupted as Lauren reached in behind him and hung-up the phone.

"I trusted you, Lee," she scolded, placing an arm under his and sliding her hand about his waist.

"I need a doctor, Lauren," he said, but she ignored him as she guided him back to the car. "Where are we?" he questioned, but receiving no answer from his wife.

Lee searched the gas station, but she had parked far from the pumps and at present, only one other car was there, the owner currently inside the snack shop.

"Lauren, why didn't you take me to Med Bay?" he questioned, his strength all-but drained away.

"But Darling, I did. Don't you remember?" she sighed. "Oh dear, you must have had another episode… it's getting worse isn't it?" she noted sadly while reaching for the car door as Lee struggled with her last statement.

"Another flashback?" he questioned confused. "I don't remember…"

"You were completely lost in it, Dearest. You kept talking about the blood, the shark's tooth in Patterson's side and his dismembered foot…"

"No don't," he begged her, settling into the car seat. He still had one leg outside the door, when she suddenly closed the door, catching his leg between the door and the car frame. He yelled at the sudden pain as she opened the door and quickly lifted his leg into the car.

"Oh Darling, I'm so sorry. It was an accident," she explained as he gasped in exquisite pain.

Quickly, she hurried to the driver's side and put the car into gear.

"Lauren…" he breathed out, before a spike of pain in his newly broken leg sent him over the edge to unconsciousness.

Lauren watched as his head fell sharply to the side and smiled serenely.

"Soon my Darling, we'll be there soon," she encouraged surreally, taking the windy back roads leading to the remote cabin.

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lauren stood on their bedroom balcony watching the sun set in the distance, as their foothill home had an ocean view. The last two months with Lee had been everything she'd wanted. He was loving, tender, and very attentive; especially since he was on medical leave, which afforded them more time together. But she knew that this wouldn't last forever; she had married a sailor and knew it wouldn't be long before Lee returned to the sea._

 _He was getting better every day; his confidence was returning and the flashbacks were diminishing, his episodes not as severe. Before long, he would be returning to his captaincy aboard Seaview, and though his friendships with Nelson and Morton were still strained, she could tell he was excited about returning to the boat._

" _What are you thinking about?" Lee interrupted, from behind as he slid his arms around her waist._

" _Just how happy I've been with you, Lee," she said, turning to face him while sliding her arms around his neck._

" _Me too," he replied with a smile. "You've been my rock, Lauren, I never would have made it without you," he complimented._

" _What do you mean, Darling?"_

" _I think I'm ready to return to work," he announced happily. "I know I won't be cleared for the boat yet, but I want to go back to the Institute and resume my office duties."_

 _Lauren's countenance dipped slightly, biting her bottom lip before recovering with a smile of obvious mix-emotions._

" _I'm glad for you, Lee, but you know I'll miss having you here with me, you've helped me move past Rod's death."_

" _I'm glad it went both ways," he said with a smile._

" _Are you sure you're ready?" she questioned, pulling away and stepping back._

 _His smile faded, not expecting her to question his decision. "I know I'm still dealing with things," he stated, to her knowing nod._

 _She was fully aware that while the flashbacks were fading, the nightmares were still prevalent. He often woke screaming about the blood and Patterson's dismembered foot still in the fin._

 _"But my first step in getting back Seaview is to return to the Institute. Jamie thinks I'm ready," he added._

 _Lauren bit her lip, Lee had just returned from his weekly session with Dr. Jamieson and she had noticed his good mood this afternoon._

" _Darling," she said evenly, "I just don't want you to be disappointed. I mean, you said yourself that the crew still blames you for Patterson's death." Lee flinched at her words, but she continued anyway. "Didn't Kowalski accuse you of freezing? He said that all the while Patterson was screaming and blood filled the water, that you delayed firing your spear gun…"_

" _Lauren don't…"_

" _He told the rest of the crew that your hands were shaking so hard that you couldn't aim straight, and that Patterson screamed, begging you to help him."_

" _No Lauren…" Lee begged, taking a step back and balling his hands into a fist, trying to hide the fact that his hands were shaking profusely._

" _They said that's when the shark bit his foot, and then his face…"_

 _Lee took a step back, holding a hand up in mid-air to stop her next words. He bumped against the wall behind him and slid down as the scene played before his mind once again._

" _No," he whimpered, before losing himself back in the depths of the sea with a shark eating one of his most trusted crewman before his eyes._

 _He woke sometime later on the sofa, with his head lying on Lauren's lap as she ran her fingers through his hair soothingly._

" _How long?" he asked, recognizing the signs of a severe flashback._

" _At least an hour. Lee, I'm sorry Darling. I'm sorry that I had to do that, but can you imagine what would have happened if you returned too soon and broke down like this in front of your crew?"_

 _Lee nodded, surrendering with a large swallow. It was bad enough that she had to see him like this, but he would lose the confidence of his crew if he had an episode aboard the boat. He had to wonder if Jamie had planned it all along, perhaps Jamieson wanted him to fail._

" _Please Darling, give it more time," she urged to his mournful agreeing nod._

 _He closed his eyes, the hope of recovery having been cleanly snatched from his grasp, and returned to sleep, accepting Lauren's comfort as his inner turmoil reignited._

The flash of light returned, ushering in the recurring scene of his blood draining away, offering hope that the nightmare that had become his life would end soon…

 **VTTBOTS**

"We're here, Lee," Lauren said, shaking him awake while pulling the blanket from him.

She helped to him move to a sitting position, igniting a fire in his leg as he groaned.

"Let's get you inside, you can stretch out on the bed," she instructed. "That's it," she encouraged wrapping his hand around her shoulder and helping him to stand, though he couldn't put his weight down on his right leg.

Lee was barely lucid as he limped toward the cabin, leaning heavily on her shoulder as she guided him in. His earlier illness had taken a backseat to his newly broken fibula, but had returned in full force at his movements. Pain clouded both his vision and his ability to think, as his only goal at present was to lie down.

"There you go, Darling," she said, guiding him to the bed where he gratefully collapsed, his weakness even more pronounced than before. "Now you just rest, Dearest, while I unload the car. Don't worry about a thing," she said caressing his face as his eyes closed to a pained sleep. "I'm going to take good care of you," she finished with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Lauren carried the box of groceries into the kitchen, humming serenely and remembering fondly the first time she met Lee. She and Rod were living in San Diego and had been married for about a year when he invited one of his Navy buddies for dinner.

" _So where did you two meet?" Lee asked in polite conversation._

 _Rod sat on the sofa with Lauren sitting closely, her arm hooked in his arm as they shared a drink before dinner._

" _We found each other in the park, near the base," he said, patting her hand fondly. "I was in for a long recovery," he said cryptically, as Lee nodded fully aware of Rod's injuries on an ONI mission. His injuries were so severe that he had been taken off the ONI Active Agent list and had only returned to the field about four months ago. "I was barely getting around on my own, still in the wheelchair and I was terribly depressed. I thought my career was over," he recalled sadly, but then perked up. "If it hadn't been for Lauren here, I don't know what I would have done," he finished with a smile._

" _That's great," Lee replied, clearly happy for his friend._

" _Darling," Lauren said to Rod. "Why don't you fire up the BBQ while I pour Lee another glass of wine."_

" _Good idea, I'm starved," Rod replied. "I'll be right back," he said with a nod to Lee as Lauren reached for the wine bottle on the coffee table between them._

 _She could have poured the glass from her present position, but stood instead, walking around the coffee table to serve him. She lowered herself to retrieve his empty goblet, allowing her blouse to drop in the process and fully exposing the cleavage that had been peeking out all evening from her low-cut, silky blouse._

" _I'm so glad you came for dinner tonight," she said, handing him the goblet, her voice having changed from her normal speaking voice of earlier to take on a decisively husky and seductive tone. She sat down the wine bottle, taking a quick look out the sliding glass door to make sure that Rod was still busy, before pretending to falter on her high heels. He stood immediately, instinctively reaching to keep her from falling as she allowed herself to fall into his arms, with her hand flat on his chest and making no effort to pull away once she was steady. Her eyes offered something more if he was willing; Lee made sure she was steady before stepping back to restore her private space._

" _Thank you, Lee, how clumsy of me," she said offering silent anticipation in her quivering lips._

" _No problem, I'll just help Rod with the steaks," he said, excusing himself and heading to the porch._

Lauren smiled at the memory; Lee had been quite the gentleman keeping his distance the rest of the evening, but she was sure he felt the fireworks as well.

 **VTTBOTS**

" _You've got to be kidding, Lee! Of all the stupid, idiotic_ _ **, crazy**_ _..."_

Lee opened his eyes and watched Lauren leave the bedroom. He didn't know where he was, other than a rustic cabin. He tried to rise, but found himself seized in pain as he curled tightly, trying to keep his distress from bringing Lauren back into the room.

"You were right, Buddy," he admitted in a whisper as he remembered Chip's heated response once he found out what he had done.

" _You've got to be kidding, Lee! Of all the stupid, idiotic,_ _ **and crazy stunts!**_ _"_

" _Sit down, Chip," Admiral Nelson ordered calmly, as Chip returned to the sofa in Harry's office._

" _Okay, so explain to me again how seducing Rod's widow is going to close a national security leak," he said petulantly, dropping onto the sofa and folding his arms defiantly._

 _Lee blew a breath out, clearly uncomfortable with the mission, but not backing down in his resolve._

" _First of all, Rod told me when he bled out in my arms that something was "off" with Lauren. He said everything was perfect at first, but that the last few months had been 'strange'. He begged me to help her before he died."_

" _Strange?" Chip questioned._

" _His own word, he died right afterwards. I just thought they were having marital problems, until the med staff questioned how he had died of blood loss on a survivable wound. They found that his platelets were extremely low, which was why his blood didn't clot; but they couldn't find any physical reason why. I know this sounds like a lot of supposition, Chip, but it turns out that Lauren had been married before; her first husband was a Captain in the Air Force who died unexpectedly. Her second husband was a Lieutenant from the same base; he died in an auto accident only seven months before she met Rod. The circumstances are just too coincidental, and ONI needs to know what her angle is." Lee sighed disgustedly. "They're assuming Rod leaked information to his 'trustworthy' wife. ONI wants to know if she's a spy, and the only way I can clear Rod's name is to become husband number four."_

" _So, you're going to ruin your life with a farce marriage? I don't think taking Rod's widow to bed is what he had in mind when he asked you to help her, you know? And what if they're wrong about her, have you thought about that?"_

" _I don't think they're wrong," Lee said, keeping his cool even though Chip was ready to blow his top._

" _What makes you think you can seduce her anyway?" his friend challenged, clearly unhappy with ONI's latest stunt involving Lee Crane._

" _Because she already made moves on me, even before Rod died."_

 _Lee's last statement caused Chip's brow to rise, urging him to continue._

" _Several months ago," he explained, "it was subtle, but she made sure I knew she was interested. I stayed away after that. Rod's only been gone for two weeks and she's been calling me on the phone, needing someone to talk too," Lee continued. "I informed ONI and they came up with this plan."_

" _To put you on medical leave, and make it look like you're off your rocker?" Chip questioned sarcastically; not remotely mocking PTSD, only frustrated and lashing out._

" _She connected with Rod when he was recovering from a bad mission; ONI wanted a reason for her to feel I was vulnerable, and if I were on medical leave, perhaps things would move along faster."_

 _Chip leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Lee, are you sure about this? If she is a Black Widow then you won't be immune to whatever her angle is either."_

" _ONI knows that," Harry said, joining in the conversation, now that Chip had calmed down. "That's why this scheme is so elaborate. Pegging Lee with PTSD will ensure weekly therapy sessions with Jamie, which is how he will report. Distancing Lee from his friends will make his reliance on her more believable, and leaving the Institute will keep her from checking on the story of the crewman's death."_

" _So, Patterson is okay with being dead for the duration?" Chip asked with less emotion than before, and rolling his eyes at the irony of his last statement._

" _Pat knows what's at stake and he's agreed," Lee answered._

 _Chip breathed out heavily, finally relenting to the stupid, idiotic and crazy stunt ONI had come up with to trap a Black Widow._

" _When do you start?"_

" _I'm going to San Diego tonight to get the ball rolling; Pat's 'accident' will take place in two weeks. I'll start working my cover and see where it leads us."_

" _What can I do to help?" Chip asked, losing all his fire and showing only concern for his best friend._

" _Nothing for the time being," Harry answered, "but you'll be joining us for the weekly briefings in Jamie's office. He'll be drawing weekly blood samples from Lee as a safety precaution and we'll play the mission as it presents itself."_

 _Chip stood, reaching for Lee's hand and grasping it in a prolonged shake._

" _I still think this is crazy, Lee."_

" _It's not just for Rod, Chip. It's also for the other two guys she may have killed, and who knows how many more before she's caught."_

 _Chip nodded then pulled Lee into a brotherly hug._

" _Take care," he said, releasing Lee and stepping back._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lee watched as Jamie drew another blood sample, watching with odd interest as the crimson liquid filled the vial._

" _I bet you're getting tired of all the blood work," Chip asked casually._

" _It's actually pretty comforting," Lee answered, as Jamie placed a cotton ball over the injection site._

" _This one's going to bruise, sorry Lee."_

" _That's all right, Jamie, I've got a concealer kit that's been doing the job," he answered as Harry entered the room._

" _Sorry I'm late, Lee."_

" _No problem, Jamie's just finishing up."_

" _Okay gentlemen, let's get started," Harry said, moving the briefing along._

" _I don't know Admiral, it's been a month since we got married and she's been nothing but supportive. She's loving, kind, and giving… I can see why Rod was drawn to her."_

" _Whoa right there," Chip intervened. "You're not falling for her, are you?"_

 _Lee glared a moment then softened as he considered his next words. "I haven't forgotten her history or how she made moves on me with Rod right outside on the patio; but yeah, I've had to really remind myself that if she's guilty, then winning the love and trust of her husbands is something she excels in," he admitted._

 _Jamie scowled, knowing how hard it was for Lee to live this lie, while interacting with Lauren as his wife in every way._

" _It's only been a month," Harry jumped in, "perhaps we should add some drama and see how she reacts."_

" _Like what?" Lee asked._

" _How about an argument pitting us against you and Lauren?" Chip suggested. "That should get under her skin and you can play up the vulnerability."_

 _Lee nodded, but his face held little conviction._

" _Are you second guessing yourself, Lee?" Harry asked._

" _I don't know, Admiral, there's a part of me that wants to believe that she's just had bad luck being widowed three times."_

" _But you don't really believe that, do you?" Harry probed as Lee rubbed a hand to his forehead wearily._

" _No, I don't. I think she's very good at what she does, it's just so far I haven't found a motive for her marrying me, except her claims to being in love with me."_

" _I know this is difficult, Lee, but you've got to detach."_

" _I understand, Harry. I haven't lost sight of the mission," he assured as the Admiral nodded, accepting both his answer and the conviction in which it was rendered._

" _Okay, Lee. You'd better be on your way, and make sure you make us look like interfering jerks trying to question your wisdom."_

 _Lee smiled. "That part might be kind of fun," he jested before leaving._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _The argument had indeed caused drama, and Lauren had insisted on accompanying Lee on his next therapy session. The possibility had been anticipated and a ruse had been concocted that would be traumatic enough to discourage her participation in subsequent sessions. Lee had had to put on quite a show, reacting to the gruesome photos that ONI had doctored of Patterson's "disfigured" body. His breakdown had been quite effective, giving Jamieson the ammunition needed to insist that Lee come to the sessions alone, as Lauren had interfered just as the doctor was about to explore what he deemed a breakthrough in Lee's condition._

 _Lee continued with his sham marriage into the second month, easing back on his PTSD symptoms in an effort to show some measure of improvement. He was currently sitting in Jamie's exam room where the weekly briefings were held, watching Jamie pull another vial of blood from his arm._

" _I don't know what her angle is, Admiral, but she doesn't want me to improve," Lee explained. "Up until now, I haven't had too much to go on to prove that something was off, but she took active steps to convince me that I'm going crazy."_

" _What happened?" Harry asked, as the tension thickened in the room._

" _Well, first of all, Chip's phone call was the catalyst, I think."_

 _They all nodded, it was agreed that Chip's calls from time to time would be a way to keep the tension from their strained friendships alive, as well as to serve as a point of contact should Lee need something from them prior to his next session._

" _The next morning, we got up like normal; Lauren had been up before me cooking breakfast. She told me she left some coffee for me on the vanity, when I went inside the bathroom she had left a fin and face mask on the counter. The coffee cup was filled with something that looked like blood, it didn't smell like blood, but it was convincing. I spaced out, just like she expected me to, and made enough noise to get her attention downstairs. Then I acted out another flashback and let her settle me back on the bed. While I was 'incapacitated' she quietly went into the bathroom and removed the flipper and mask. She took them downstairs, I'm not sure where she hid them, but when she came back up she replaced the blood-filled coffee mug with a cup coffee. Did I tell you she had a shark's tooth floating in the blood?"_

" _She went to a lot of work to convince you that you had hallucinated it all," Harry noted with a shake of his head._

" _Yeah," Lee agreed, dipping his head. "You know, Admiral, up until she pulled that, I could have almost believed she loved me."_

 _Harry noted the betrayal in his friend's eyes, and knew he needed to confront it._

" _And what about you, Lee?"_

 _Lee delayed answering for a moment, swallowing back some emotion before raising his head to look Harry in the eyes._

" _If you want to know if I was successful in completely detaching, then I guess the answer is no." He scoffed and shook his head. "Hell, how do you live with a woman as husband and wife in every way, and not feel something? But I'm not confused, Admiral, I'm furious at the thought of what she did to Rod. He loved her, and he believed in her to the very end. And that's what's scary, because Rod was a damn good agent, it would have taken a lot to pull one over on him."_

" _I'm sorry, Lee," Harry said, standing and pacing in his own frustration. "ONI has asked too much of you this time."_

 _Lee stood, stopping the Admiral's pacing with his strong words. "We're_ _not_ _pulling the plug on this," he countered. "For the first time we've got something tangible, we just need to find out what she's after."_

 _Harry searched Lee's eyes, finding complete clarity as well as determination._

" _Are you sure, Lee?"_

" _I'm sure," he replied, bringing his tension down a notch._

" _Then I think the next step is to disrupt her plans a little. If she wants to keep you ill, let's see what happens when Jamie suggests it's time to return to the Institute."_

" _Okay, I'll spill that in a couple of weeks. I don't think it should be too soon after this set-back she arranged."_

" _I agree. Do you have anything to add, Jamie?" Harry asked, noting the doctor's reticence._

" _Yes, I do, Admiral. The fact that she went to a great deal of trouble to push Lee into another 'flashback' suggest to me that she's dangerous. Now, I know that's not news to you, but it scares the hell out of me."_

" _Thanks, Jamie," Lee replied, appreciating his concern, "but this is what I signed up for when I agreed to do this. You just make sure that blood work is clean, because you're my lifeline," he added sincerely._

" _Aye Sir, you can count on me."_

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Two weeks later, Lee was back at his weekly session. Jamie was holding the now filled vial of blood up to the light as Lee buttoned his sleeve._

" _What was her response to your returning to the Institute," Harry inquired._

" _She pushed me against the proverbial wall, bringing up the fact that Ski said I froze out there, basically telling me it was my fault," he said, reciting the cover story for his PTSD and an accident that never occurred. "She kept pushing till she got what she wanted, so I played the game. When I came back to 'reality', she told me it had been for my own good, and that she was protecting me from having an episode in front of the crew."_

 _Chip scoffed loudly from the corner, suddenly feeling the need to pace off his frustration._

" _This is ridiculous, Lee. It's been almost three months and she hasn't asked you for one solitary thing concerning national security or anything Top Secret for that matter!"_

" _I know, Chip. But there's got to be a connection for what's she doing with me, and what she did with Rod and the others. If we don't play this out, she'll get away scot free with three murders and we still won't know what she was after."_

" _Gentlemen," Harry intervened, "I'm afraid we're just going to have to be patient. The earliest death of her late husbands was six months, but for all we know, she could have been spiking Rod with a drug that long, waiting for something catastrophic to take him," he said, knowing that ONI had long-since suspected the use of drugs, even though they couldn't prove it yet._

" _I agree with you, Admiral. She's patient, and she apparently believes that she needs me completely vulnerable and dependent on her to get what she wants. All we can do is keep pushing the envelope to see if we can get her to make her move sooner rather than later."_

" _Now, that sounds like a good idea," Chip replied sarcastically, throwing his hands up into the air in frustration. "It sounds like you actually_ _want_ _her to make you deceased husband number four."_

" _You're missing the point, Chip. It's what she's gotten from her late husbands,_ _prior_ _to their deaths that we're after. And I'd truly appreciate it if you would all keep me from being deceased husband number four," he added in gallows humor._

 _Everyone chuckled lightly, but the weight of the mission was clearly a burden for all of them._

" _I'll pass along the report to ONI, if no one has anything else to add, we'll adjourn," Harry suggested._

 _Jamie and Chip filed out as Harry stayed behind purposely to ask Lee one last question in private._

" _How are you_ _really_ _doing, Lad?" he asked with an intensity in his eyes that told Lee he didn't want to hear "fine"._

 _Lee paused and sighed. "I miss Seaview, Harry," he replied honestly._

" _I could pull the plug on this, Lee."_

" _No, don't do that, Harry. We've made it this far, she's got to make a move soon."_

 _Nelson nodded, his intense eyes offering both his concern and agreement as the two filed out._

 **VTTBOTS**

" _Hello?"_

" _Lee, don't hang up," Chip urged. "I know you said you didn't want to talk to me, but I've had it. I'm coming over."_

" _Then I'll leave," Lee countered._

" _You've got to come home sometime," his friend warned stubbornly, producing a large expelled sigh from Lee._

" _No. I'll come to your house," he said angrily, hanging up the phone as Lauren moved to his side, her concern etched deeply on her face._

" _Lee, are you sure about this?"_

 _He turned toward her, taking a deep breath and rubbing her arms in comfort. "I need to do this, Lauren; he's got to know that he doesn't run my life."_

 _She nodded slowly; their whirlwind romance had been quite secret. It started out as Lee comforting her loss only two weeks after Rod's passing; but an accident aboard Seaview had propelled him into her arms shortly after. Rod had only been dead for two months, so no one expected their elopement almost three months ago; but Lee's estrangement from his closest friends had only driven them closer together._

" _Do you want me to come with you?"_

" _No," he said, pulling her close to place a kiss on her forehead. "This is something I have to deal with myself."_

" _Are you sure, Darling?"_

 _He pulled her into an embrace and kissed the top of her head. "I'm pretty sure it's going to get ugly, and I don't want you there. I'm going to set Morton straight, once and for all."_

" _I'll be waiting, Darling," she said, reaching up to kiss him enthusiastically, and making sure to offer him something to look forward to upon his return._

 _He returned her kiss passionately, before stepping back. "Hold that thought," he said with a wink and a smile that faded at the uncomfortable, but necessary confrontation that Chip Morton was forcing._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Chip opened the door inviting Lee in, not surprised at all to find both Harry and Jamie there as well, even though their cars were discreetly parked a block away._

" _I came over as soon as I could," Lee said, clearly concerned with Chip's hidden message that he needed to see him right away. "What's going on?"_

" _Your last blood work came back with an anomaly," Jamie stated._

" _A drug?" Lee asked._

" _The tests were inconclusive, and we couldn't identify it, so we need another blood sample," he explained, opening his doctor's bag._

 _Lee reached for his sleeve and unbuttoned it, rolling it up and taking a seat on the sofa._

" _I don't understand? Why can't you identify it?"_

" _It was a trace amount and we didn't know what we were looking for; the sample was tainted with testing fluids. I'm going to take three vials this time and ONI is going to send a Toxicologist to work with me," Jamie replied, inserting the needle and drawing his first vial of blood._

 _The sudden ringing of Chip's phone added even more tension to the room as he moved to answer it quickly._

" _Hello? Okay… got it." He hung up as the apprehension in the room ratcheted up another notch._ " _That was Kowalski, Lauren is on the move and it looks like she's headed this way."_

" _All right, Jamie, we're going to need to cut this short."_

" _Almost done, Skipper."_

 _He pulled the last of Lee's blood through the vial as Lee, stood quickly buttoning his sleeve._

" _This doesn't look good, Lee," Chip noted, not happy with the latest turn of events._

" _She's making her move, Chip, she must be ready to go for what she wants," he said, focusing his best friend on the mission._

" _She just pulled up outside, two houses down," Harry said, peeking discreetly through the window from the side._

" _All right, Chip, let's make this look good on your front porch."_

 _Chip nodded as Lee threw open the front door and stormed out._

" _That's it, Chip! We're done!"_

" _Be reasonable, Lee," the blond countered back just as loudly._

" _Look! I'll spell this out so even you can understand," he yelled, getting into Chip's face. "You stay out of my business and leave me and my wife alone. You got that?!"_

 _Chip put on the darkest scowl he could as he heard Lauren's car leaving the curb quietly, but obviously trying to beat Lee back home._

 _Lee winked, then put back on his face of fury and stormed to his car for affect. He peeled out of Chip's driveway, leaving black rubber behind on his driveway, and headed back, careful not to overtake Lauren on the way home._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lauren made it into the house only minutes before Lee, turning in the living room in a 360-degree circle in a frantic, lost state, while considering Lee's resolve to meet with Chip. Up until now he hadn't left her home alone, with the exception of his weekly therapy sessions, and the few times he had to visit the Institute to take care of paperwork for their marriage. He was becoming too confident; too sure of himself, and the thought terrified her. She turned in a circle hypnotically, in deep thought, and almost a nervous wreck until she stopped and regained her composure as a surreal smile spread across her face. She headed into the kitchen calmly, and pulled down two wine goblets hanging from their rack then opened the refrigerator, selecting the red wine to hide the possible cloudiness of the white powder. She heard the garage door lowering and quickly prepared the glass, emptying the entire contents of the envelope then raised it to the light and smiled approvingly._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lee walked into the house wearily, sinking onto the sofa and tilting his head back to appear weary from the explosive exchange he and Chip had manufactured._

" _Darling?" he heard from the kitchen._

" _I'm in here, Lauren," he called, putting on a face of mixed emotions; angry, but trying to work through it for her sake._

" _I thought you might need a little something," she said, offering the goblet to her husband._

 _Lee smiled. "Sounds good," he replied, careful to hide his concern about eating or drinking anything from Lauren's hand, but reasoned that she was poisoning him slowly and by morning Jamie would know what he was up against. He took the glass she offered and sipped, but Lauren took a healthy swallow and he knew he'd have to as well. They were so close; whatever she had killed three other military husbands for while targeting him as number four, would soon be disclosed. So, he took two more rather large swallows, drinking half the glass, which apparently placated her needs as she seductively took his goblet from his hand and placed it on the coffee table then climbed into his lap. The move was obviously designed to set him at ease as she offered a passionate, domineering kiss, which he responded to as any man would to his wife's offer._

 _She kissed him wildly, obviously trying to distract him until he gasped at the sudden pain, and his arms dropped limply to his sides._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lauren leaned back and watched his eyes as the drug she had spiked his wine with began to take full effect._

" _What's wrong, Darling?"_

" _Lauren…"_

 _She climbed off his lap, watching him writhe in pain, as he doubled over on the sofa. His pain had no effect on her as she picked up the wine goblets and carried them into the kitchen, taking the time to wash and dry them, before returning them to their place, completely ignoring the soft grunts of pain from living room._

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lee realized immediately that Lauren had stepped up the game, giving him a full dose of her drug instead of the small dose that Jamie couldn't even identify in his blood sample earlier._

" _You can do this, Lee," he encouraged himself, not a stranger to pain at an interrogator's whim, and waited for Lauren to disclose what she wanted from him when she returned to the room. He had reasoned that she sold information of various sorts as her first two husbands had been Air Force; one a 1_ _st_ _Lieutenant with limited Top Secret exposure. Rod was Navy and being ONI, his information would have been much more lucrative. They had kept Lee's association with ONI a secret, but he was the captain of the most powerful nuclear submarine to sail the seas. Somewhere in the mix, was either a common thread to all four officers, or perhaps she ferreted out anything she could sell to her contacts._

 _A sudden rush of pain interrupted his thinking; he stopped to concentrate on coping just as she returned to the room._

" _Are you ill, Lee?" she asked, innocently and with all the concern of a loving wife._

 _Lee figured that until she made her move to expose what she wanted from him, he'd need to play the part of an unsuspecting victim, knowing that in a normal relationship one would not immediately suspect they had been poisoned._

" _My stomach," he complained with both arms wrapped tightly around his mid-section. "Need to go to Med Bay," he suggested, hoping that being completely incapacitated would hurry her plans along. He didn't have to act that part out; her drug was powerful and was wreaking powerful cramps that seized him in excruciating pain._

 _She responded by helping him into a sitting position._

" _Of course I'll take you to Med Bay, Darling. Just help me get you to the car."_

 _Lee found himself lost in the pain, obeying her instructions to walk to the garage, but if he had had his way, he would have dropped as dead weight. Lauren was petite and in no way, could have carried him, forcing her to extract her information right here, where Harry and Chip could keep an eye on him. But this was the break they had been waiting for; perhaps she was taking him to her contacts, the ones who specialized in extracting information. So, he continued to play the game, allowing her to take him to the car and even throwing in more pleas to take him to Med Bay._

 _She left him in the car, promising to return after retrieving her purse, but he lost track of time as the drug worked havoc throughout his body. He briefly shuddered at the thought of what would have happened had he downed the entire glass of wine, before leaving the disturbing image to deal with the ongoing pain._

 _The sound of the automatic garage door woke him, as he slowly rolled his head her direction._

" _It's okay, Lee. You're going to be okay," she recited almost clinically, before backing out and heading for the highway._

 **VTTBOTS**

The memory faded as Lee's face contorted with the pain, immediately giving way to another memory.

" _You've got to be kidding, Lee! Of all the stupid, idiotic,_ _ **and crazy stunts!**_ _"_

Chip's words came to mind once again as Lee lay on the bed in the rustic cabin, incapacitated by an unknown drug and hobbled by a broken leg, both courtesy of his "loving" wife.

"Yeah Buddy, you were right," he repeated, wondering when Lauren would get on with the interrogation.

He grunted again, burying his face into the pillow to muffle his distress, taking comfort in the blood sample Jamie had collected earlier, and banking on the doctor's ability to identify the drug in time to treat him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Patterson raised the radio to report, having tailed the Skipper and Mrs. Crane from their house. "I've got them. The Skipper doesn't look so good. He tried to make a call at a telephone booth, but she's got him back in the car now… Whoa! Did you see that, Ski?"

"Patterson, report!" Admiral Nelson ordered impatiently, refocusing the rating on his duty.

"She just slammed the car door on his leg, and it didn't look like an accident to me, Sir," Pat reported. "Should we intercept?" he asked hopefully, and thinking inwardly that the Skipper really looked in a bad way.

"Negative, keep your distance and in no way, expose your position. Captain Crane has worked hard to get us to this point, let's not undo his work," Harry admonished.

"Aye Sir, we've got them in sight and we won't let the Skipper down."

Pat signed off as he and Ski exchanged worried glances.

"Man, Pat," Ski lamented with a scowl, while putting the car into gear, "She doesn't deserve to wear the last name 'Crane', I can tell you that now."

"Yeah," Pat agreed wholeheartedly. "They're on the move, Ski, let's not lose them."

 **VTTBOTS**

Lee moved too quickly, his broken leg protesting profusely at the sudden movement as he tried to sit up. Whatever was happening inside was intensifying and Lauren still hadn't given him any clue as to what she wanted from him. He could hear her in the other room and wondered if he should try and move this along. He tried to stand, but ended up hopping to the dresser to steady himself, knowing his movements were sure to bring her in to investigate. It was a calculated risk, but right now he was all for pushing her to get to the point of these last three months of pretending to be a loving wife, while simultaneously attempting to derail his recovery and poisoning him in the process.

"Lee! What are you doing out of bed?" Lauren asked from the doorway. "Here Darling, let me help you to back to the bed."

He allowed her to help him over to the bed, but resisted lying down, choosing to sit on the side of the bed instead.

"Lauren, why did you bring me here?" he asked, studying her eyes and attempting to decipher the odd expression staring back at him.

"Dr. Jamieson said you needed rest, Dearest; don't you remember?" she asked, attempting to guide him back into a lying position on the bed.

"Cut the crap, Lauren," he issued harshly in the hopes of dropping the pretenses. "Jamieson would have never allowed me leave Med Bay in this condition."

"No Darling, you just don't remember. You must have had another episode. I told you that you weren't ready, and now look what happened."

"I didn't have another episode," he countered, wrapping his arms around his mid-section to curb the ongoing discomfort. "What do you want from me?" he challenged angrily.

"To get better, Dearest," she replied, trying unsuccessfully once again to lower him to the bed, as he shrugged off her hands.

Just as he hoped, her eyes turned from the loving expression of earlier to something clearly darker and decidedly dangerous. Suddenly, she pushed him harshly backwards, invoking a cry of unchecked pain as she maneuvered him back to the bed in the horizontal position she was seeking all along. Perspiration formed in large drops, joining the loud grunt at the unexpected movement to his untreated leg, all of which adding to the distress of the poison still ravaging his mid-section. He had no choice but to lie back and ride out the waves of misery, as Lauren's voice turned soft once again.

"There Darling, now you just rest. I'll take good care of you, I promise," she said closing the door behind her.

Lee heard a distinctive, familiar sound and forced his eyes to focus on the doorknob, realizing that it had just been locked from the outside.

As she walked away, he heard another voice on the other side of the door.

"When are you going to turn him over to me?" a second woman asked.

"He's still not well," Lauren replied.

"You've had him long enough. It's my turn…" the woman said, their voices fading as they walked further away from the bedroom.

Lee closed his eyes wearily to their disturbing conversation, as he briefly considered whether the interrogator had just arrived on the scene.

 **VTTBOTS**

Kowalski and Patterson had followed as closely as they dared, but had to hang back when she took a side road heading onto a dirt road. They would have to give her a little distance or risk being seen on the dark, windy road.

"This is Patterson."

"This is Nelson, go ahead."

"We're turning off at Sander's Corner, Sir," Patterson reported, there was a short pause and a rustle of paper in the distance before Admiral Nelson replied.

"I don't see it on the map."

"No Sir, it's a pretty obscure road. We'll have to give her some room so she doesn't spot our headlights behind her."

"Very well, just don't lose them. We're still waiting on the toxicology report and you two are Captain Crane's last line of defense."

"Aye Sir."

They signed off as Ski expelled a loud dramatic breath. "Man, oh man, Pat. I've got a bad feeling about this," he noted as the small dirt road winded into a dense forest.

 **VTTBOTS**

Chip paced the floor at the Institute Med Bay where Jamie and an ONI specialist were working on Lee's blood sample in the lab. He was anxious for Lee's sake; even knowing that the northern California community was over four hours away by car, and that FS-1 would be able to cross the distance in an hour. Unfortunately, they were stuck here until Jamie identified the substance in Lee's blood.

"I don't like this, Admiral," he complained as he paced. "Patterson already told us that Lee didn't look well, it sounds like to me she's already upped the ante."

"I agree, but we've got to give Lee time to find out what she's after. He's given up three months of his life, not including the two months before the marriage to get us here. If we move in too soon, it may all be for nothing."

Chip stopped his pacing and sighed helplessly. "I know, Sir, but he hasn't got a safety net out there, and if Ski and Pat lose that car, he'll be on his own."

Harry heaved a weary breath, before pursing his bottom lip in determination. "Then we'd better pray that they don't lose Lauren Crane in the woods; but until then, we're staying put," he replied resolutely, before softening. "I have a feeling Lee is going to need the answer to the toxicology report… and maybe even an antidote," he answered honestly, with his own concern visible in his expressive blue eyes.

Chip nodded both his understanding and acceptance of Harry's words, but resumed his pacing, the Admiral's last statement having offered no comfort whatsoever.

 **VTTBOTS**

Lee turned carefully onto his back, wincing at the change in position to his leg in an attempt to assess his surroundings. There was only one window in the small but functional bedroom, but even from where he lay he could see that the winter shutters were still closed. He had no doubt they were latched from the outside, but still a possibility should he need an escape route. A sudden spike of pain from his leg reminded him that running was impossible at this point, so unless she actually left the cabin it was unlikely that he'd be able to break through the shutters quietly for a clean getaway.

Escaping wasn't his first priority however, as he still hadn't discovered what she wanted yet. The second female voice he heard earlier insinuated that Lauren was working with someone else, which made him wonder why she went to the trouble of marrying her victims instead of just luring them to the interrogator once she had them interested. She was obviously very patient, since her other marriages lasted six months to a year before the unfortunate husbands were deemed unnecessary. He also knew that her M.O. for each husband had been different; Rod had been vulnerable with his physical injuries, but she had made a move on him even before they had concocted the phony accident for his PTSD cover story; and her other two husbands didn't seem to have a known vulnerability for her to exploit. Furthermore, none of the three prior deaths had been similar; an auto accident; a case of food poisoning while her husband had been deployed elsewhere, and indeed, Rod's death had been the only one to have raised a red flag up to this point.

The creaks of the wooden floors preceded a set of footsteps outside his door interrupting his thoughts, as Lee readied himself for what he hoped would be the answers to his questions. He turned back to his side; still nursing heavy cramps from whatever she had spiked his wine with. He heard a key unlocking the door and watched as Lauren entered the room carrying a tray with, presumably, his dinner.

 **VTTBOTS**

Ski and Pat came to a stop, eying the fork in the road and desperately looking for signs that a car had recently passed.

"Which way?" Patterson asked.

"I don't know, Pat. I just don't know," he replied with a shake of his head. He opened the car door and got out, moving to the front of the car and looking for a cloud of dust in either direction, _anything_ that might clue them which fork to take. They had had to hang back too far to avoid detection from their headlights and had simply lost the trail in the dark.

Pat joined him, carrying the portable radio with him. "What do you think?"

"Call the Admiral and tell him we lost them at a fork. We'll take the left fork first and if we don't find them, we'll retrace back here and take the right fork," he answered reluctantly.

Pat sighed, remembering how bad the Skipper looked at the gas station. This was a call he wished he didn't have to make.

 **VTTBOTS**

Chip's pacing stopped abruptly at the sound of the radio crackling to life, turning sharply upon hearing Patterson's voice. His hopes, however, were dashed at the rating's news.

"We lost him, Sir. We had to hang back to avoid detection and we lost them at a fork in the road. We're taking the left fork first, if we don't find them we'll double back and take the right fork," he reported.

"Very well," Harry replied, his face taunt with concern. "Explore the left fork completely, I'll send reinforcements to take the right fork."

"Aye Sir," Pat replied, signing off, his relief apparent that back up was on the way.

Harry signed off and turned to Chip, who was dressed in civvies, primed for action and waiting for orders. He had no intention of sitting this one out, and fortunately, the Admiral agreed.

"Chip, take FS-1 to the closest landing strip. I'll contact the authorities and have someone meet you there," Harry said, pointing to a small regional airport just off the highway and not too far from the turnoff that Kowalski had reported over an hour ago.

"Aye Sir, what about the toxicology report?"

Harry raised a hand to stave off his further concern, "Don't worry about that, I'll have ONI send a Helo. If it turns out we need a fast ride, we'll get there."

"Aye Sir, I'm on it," Chip said, heading for the door and running out of Med Bay toward the underground sub pen.

Harry pursed his bottom lip, then reached for the phone to get ONI busy on keeping Lee Crane from becoming deceased husband number four.

 **VTTBOTS**

Lauren placed the tray on the dresser and turned toward Lee with the familiar smile she had used often in their three months of marriage.

"I brought you some soup, Darling," she said as if she hadn't drugged him, broke his leg, and took him to heaven knows where in some twisted plot he had yet to discover.

"Why? Do I need to be drugged again? Because the wine is already doing a damn good job," he replied darkly; she had already pulled the plug on their farce of a marriage, and as far as he was concerned, she could drop the pretense and get on with what she wanted.

"Why Darling, I don't know what you mean," she said with a hint of hurt in her eyes that he could possibly insinuate such things about her.

"Why don't we just cut the crap, and you tell me why you brought me here?"

"Lee, I would never hurt you!" she urged with tears swelling in her eyes as her "confession" came pouring out. "It was Lisa, she always does this whenever I find someone special!" she cried.

"Who the hell is Lisa?" he asked harshly, but having to swallow down a groan as the heated emotions exasperated his condition.

"She always does this to me," she repeated in a whimper, turning her back on Lee and facing the mirror on the dresser.

Lee watched the mirror as Lauren's facial expression changed from hurt and crying to something decidedly different. Her countenance took on a harsher tone as the lines on her face deepened, almost changing her appearance.

"Lauren's always so melodramatic," she said mockingly, using her reflection to make eye contact with Lee, and speaking in a much huskier voice filled with little respect. She turned and leaned against the dresser, folding her arms in front of her and taking a stance he'd never seen Lauren use in their three months of marriage.

"What do you mean, Lauren?" he asked, not missing the fact that her entire disposition had changed and that she had referred to herself in the third person.

"Come on, Lee," she taunted, shifting her weight to the other foot and heaving an irritated sigh. "I know you're smarter than that." He didn't respond, so she scoffed and continued. " _I'm_ Lisa, oh you met me before, when you caught me in your arms while Rod was on the patio barbequing. What a rush!" she commented with a twisted smile at the memory. "You felt it," she added seductively. "I picked you, then I gave you over to Lauren, she's better at all that vulnerability and tears; you men fall for it every time."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Lauren," he said, rising up to his elbow.

"Stop calling me that! Lauren is weak. She falls for every one of you men, she even thinks she loves you," she scoffed with a disbelieving shake of her head.

The more Lee moved, the more uncomfortable he became; whatever she had given him hadn't seemed to let up, and with the sedative wearing off, he had found he was more uncomfortable than ever.

"Lauren…"

"Lisa!" she countered.

"Okay, Lisa," he said backing off at her explosive irritation. "I want to talk to Lauren," he demanded, blinking with the pain and trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the woman before him was purporting to have a split personality.

She rolled her eyes then called over her shoulder, as if calling to the other room.

"Lauren!"

Instantly, her hands dropped from their defiant pose folded across her chest, down to her sides as her shoulders rounded slightly. Simultaneously, her face dropped its hardness and took on the soft lines of the woman he had come to know these last three months.

"Lee," she replied, reaching a hand for him, but keeping her distance. "I didn't want to do it, but Lauren made me. She always makes me do these things. Please help me, Lee," she cried pitifully.

"I need a doctor. Help me, Lauren," he said, rising slowly despite his illness and pulling back a grimace when moving his injured leg, "and I promise to get you the help you need," he added sincerely, reaching out to her, their fingers nearly touching when her countenance took a swift change and Lisa reappeared; her hardened expression contorting her face with a hateful scowl.

"Not so fast, Lee," she warned, suddenly reaching for the tray behind her and pulling a gun from underneath a cloth napkin.

Lee stopped in his tracks, balancing on his good leg and raising his hands at the sight of the .38 Special, a quick firing weapon with no safety.

"Sit down, Lee," she ordered.

Lee complied; lowering himself carefully and still in shock over the bizarre revelation of her multiple personalities.

"What do you want from me, Lisa?" he asked bluntly. "Why did you poison me?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon, enough," she replied, stepping back and reaching for the door handle behind her. Her hand faltered for the handle, as Lee calculated whether he could reach her in time with his bum leg. "Don't even think about it, Lee," she advised, pointing the gun menacingly while planting her hand firmly on the handle and pulling the door open. "Lauren likes to nurse injured men, so believe me, she wouldn't mind one bit if I put a bullet in your shoulder," she warned, smiling deviously as she closed the door behind her.

Lee watched her intently as she slowly pulled the door closed with the gun trained on him the entire time. She left the meal tray behind, but he had no intention of eating or drinking anything she gave him, and instead stood, limping gingerly toward the window. He opened it slowly, trying to avoid a sliding sound as he raised the window. Once opened, he tested the shutters; as he suspected, they were latched from the outside. He hobbled to the door and turned the handle, but the lock was solid, before checking out the meal tray to look for any utensil he might be able to use. He was disappointed however, to find only a flimsy plastic spoon; it would seem that Lisa had thought of everything. He moved on to the dresser drawers, finding they were completely empty and headed back to the bed wearily. He was forced to lie down once again, disappointed that his foraging for anything useful had come up empty.

He cradled his stomach just as a moan escaped, wondering when Lisa would tip her hand of what she wanted from him and just how it related to Lauren's other three husbands. The last thought made him cringe at the idea of thinking of her in terms of two different people. Lisa had insinuated that Lauren loved him; he knew he had thought it was sincere many times, and he had to wonder if that's why Lauren didn't want him to get well, that it was perhaps the only way she knew to keep Lisa from moving on with her plans.

He groaned again, realizing that whatever she spiked him with was now taking a meaner turn. His stomach cramped harder and thinking was getting difficult, but he had to consider at this point, that there was no national security issue here at all… just a woman with a multiple personality disorder who, for some reason, targeted military men. He'd hold out a little longer, but if Lisa didn't appear to have any agenda regarding military information, then he would need to incapacitate her until his backup arrived.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Harry rubbed his hand across the back of his neck waiting for Jamie and Dr. Erickson, the toxicologist sent by ONI, to complete their analysis. He stopped to check his watch, noting that Chip should have just touched down at the regional airport. The local sheriff's department had been alerted to meet him, and they should be well on their way down to Sander's Corner. He sighed heavily; allowing his best friend to be endangered in order to plug a possible national security leak almost too heavy a burden to bear. He was therefore relieved when the helicopter ONI had deployed arrived, and was currently waiting on the helipad. Now all they needed was for Jamie and Erickson to identify the drug and determine the correct treatment.

He sunk into a chair in the sudden need to change positions, leaning over the table with his chin resting on his folded hands in thought. Patterson and Kowalski hadn't checked in for over an hour, it wasn't good news as he considered the multiple reasons for their delay in reporting their status. They could be driving aimlessly along in the dark looking for clues to their captain's whereabouts; or possibly, their location preventing them from reporting due to poor radio communications so deep in the forest. Either way, it was important for Chip to get to that right fork soon, before Lee's time ran out.

The last thought caused him to purse his bottom lip as his eyes narrowed in determination. He pushed away from the table and headed to the lab. _Blast it all to hell!_ _He intended on being in the middle of the lab work to find out just what Lauren Crane was poisoning his best friend with._ He took two steps toward the door and stopped in his tracks, looking back at the radio and heaved a heavy breath in resignation. He could assign a rating to monitor the radio, but he realized that he might need to make a fast command decision. He returned to the table, knowing full well that this is what admirals do; make the hard decisions to reach the mission objective. He couldn't think as a father and best friend right now; right now, he needed to be an admiral.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Man, it's pitch black," Ski grumbled as he drove slowly through the winding dirt road that seemed to lead to nowhere.

"There's another fork in the road," Pat pointed out, just as the headlights caught up with the two roads.

Ski stopped and blew out a breath of frustration. "See anything?"

"No, there's no way to tell how old these tire tracks are," Pat replied, his eyes narrowing with concern.

"Yeah," Ski said with a sigh. "Okay, let's take the left fork first," he decided, trying to come at the problem systematically.

He turned left, following the rocky, jutted road for a long half mile before finding their way blocked by a downed tree.

"Let's check it out," Ski suggested, reaching for the flashlight beside him as Pat did the same. They exited the car and examined the downed tree.

"It's a sure bet she didn't bring the Skipper this way," Pat deduced.

"Yeah, this has been here a while," Ski agreed, the two making sure the tree hadn't been felled recently. "Glad we found out before we wasted any more time on this fork," he continued as the two headed back for the car.

"I'll say. Let's hurry and get back to the other fork. I've got a really bad feeling about this whole thing, Ski."

"Yeah, I'm with you," Kowalski agreed, executing a six-point turn, before they were finally able to turn around on the small single lane road. They backtracked to the fork continuing on to the right while desperately looking for any clue that Lauren Crane had driven the road earlier.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Commander Morton?" the deputy sheriff greeted as Chip made his way to the sheriff's car after securing FS-1 in the t-hangar; a three-walled aircraft shelter with tie downs, but no door.

"Yes," he replied with a nod, verifying his identity since he wasn't in uniform.

"I'm Sheriff Perkins."

"Nice to meet you, Sheriff," he responded as the two shook hands. "Have you heard anything new?"

"Nothing new I'm afraid," the medium build, brown-haired officer replied. "But we've got two units and a couple of deputies coming along for the ride."

"Sounds good," Chip answered as the two headed for the waiting vehicles.

Perkins shook his head in wonder as he walked. "I've never seen anything like it before," he remarked, with a tilt of his head at the open hangar behind him.

Chip turned and offered a small smile despite his current concern for Lee, knowing the effect FS-1 had on first-time viewers.

"She's a beauty all right," the blond naval officer answered politely while Perkins got back to the business at hand as they neared the sheriff units, both SUVs, well-suited for travel on the dirt work.

"Commander Morton, these are Deputies Ramirez and Hawkins, they'll be following in the car behind us," he clarified.

Chip shook both of their hands and noted the coolness of the air as night fell in earnest. He was grateful that he'd been wearing civvies when Lee was called over to his house for the impromptu meeting. He barely avoided shaking his head at the thought, _was it only a few hours ago that Lee was sitting on his sofa getting yet another vial of blood drawn?_ It seemed like days ago that Lauren had incapacitated his best friend and managed to drive him to this remote part of the Northern California coast. If it wasn't for Ski and Pat's surveillance on the Crane house, she might have disappeared without a trace.

"Okay gentlemen, the last known surveillance of the person-of-interest takes us to Sander's Corner. Commander Morton's men followed the car, but lost it before the fork. They're taking the north fork," he said with a clarifying nod to Chip who confirmed with his own nod. "We'll head out and take the south fork. ETA is about an hour," Perkins added for Chip's sake. "Any questions? Okay, let's get to it."

Chip rounded the front of the sheriff's car and slid into the front passenger's seat. He was wearing blue jeans and a long sleeve shirt and had managed to snag a jacket from the trunk of his car before heading to the sub pen. His athletic shoes were comfortable, but he wished he had his ankle high hiking boots instead; still, it was better than tracing through the woods in his officer oxfords.

Perkins settled in beside him and raised the mic to his mouth, informing dispatch that they were on their way as they left the small air strip. It was quiet for a few moments until Chip broke the silence.

"Are there many side roads, or cabins up that way?"

"Before you get to the fork, yes; but less as you travel further into the forest."

Chip nodded and heaved a heavier breath of air than he intended as his concern for Lee escaped.

"If you don't mind me asking, Commander, how does a Navy officer get kidnapped by his wife?"

Chip smiled, the thought really did sound a bit far-fetched when stated in that light. "First of all, my name is Chip," he answered with a small smile that said he truly appreciated the local sheriff department's participation in the search.

"Nice to meet you, Chip, I'm Tom," the Sheriff replied with his own half-smile and a nod, but careful to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him.

"It does sound pretty strange, doesn't it?" he admitted before explaining. "Commander Crane is involved in an undercover operation involving his wife." Chip caught the raise of eyebrow from Perkins, but continued anyway. "His marriage was part of the deal; Lauren Crane has left a trail of three dead husbands… all military officers. When she expressed an interest in him, he agreed to this plan to find out what her game was."

"Huh," Perkins said non-committedly. "Here's our turn," he interjected as they made a right-hand turn onto a black top road that quickly turned into a dirt road. "So, I'm guessing I'm missing something here in the translation?" he probed. "I mean, he must have had some concrete reason to marry a woman just to find out if she was a black widow?" he asked point blank, sizing up the situation handily.

Chip nodded as Perkins stole a quick glance his direction.

"Some of it's classified, but yeah, he had damn good reason to enter into a sham marriage, and today we finally got our proof. She's been playing mind games with him for a while, but today we discovered that she had drugged him. He's been giving us blood samples since this whole thing started three months ago," he clarified to Perkins' whistle between his teeth.

"Sounds like a pretty well-thought out operation."

"Yeah, that's what they tell me," Chip replied, his irritation apparent. They passed by a side road, but continued on as Ski and Pat had been able to follow her to the fork, so they weren't bothering with any of the cabins prior to that point. "Anyway," he continued, "Lee leaped right back into the frying pan and went home after he found out, hoping she was ready to show her hand."

"I take it the big brass believes she's after more than insurance money?"

Chip nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

"Classified?"

"Sort of, no one knows for sure."

"So, Commander Crane played the bait?"

"Yeah, we all thought we had time; the unidentified drug was only a trace amount, but she moved quicker than any of us thought she would. She apparently incapacitated him; our crewmen reported he looked pretty ill when she stopped at the gas station down the road. She ah… she slammed the door on his leg, so we think he has a bum leg now on top of whatever she drugged him with."

"This sounds like some pretty serious stuff."

"It is, and unfortunately, we're still playing the game. Once we find out where she took him we'll need to move in quietly, in case he's still gathering evidence."

Now it was Sheriff Perkins turn to blow a breath out. "Commander Crane sounds like he has quite a hero complex," he said in what Chip realized was actually a compliment.

"He does at that," Chip agreed. "One of his good friends was husband number three, and Lee's trying to clear his name."

"Ah, the classified stuff again," Perkins commented with a raised brow, figuring there was more to the story than he was currently privy for a victim to have to be cleared of wrong doing.

"Yeah," Chip agreed before leaning forward. "Is that the fork we're looking for?" pointing to the road just now being illuminated by the high beams.

"Yeah, this is it. You say your men took the left fork?"

"Yes."

Perkins picked up the mic. "Okay Rick, keep a sharp eye out," he advised the car behind.

"Ten-four," Deputy Ramirez replied as they took the south fork of the small dirt road, heading deeper into a dark forest.

 **VTTBOTS**

Lee groaned and then coughed into his pillow as he lay on his side fully engulfed in the aftereffects of Lauren's drug. He wasn't sure which hurt more, the terrible stomach cramps or the near blinding headache that joined the mix. Even more troublesome was the fact that it was becoming harder to swallow. To make matters worse, his muscles were weak and he was finding it hard to even turn over in bed. He barely registered the sound of the door unlocking and looked wearily over, wondering if it was Lauren or Lisa coming to pay him a visit.

"Hello Lee," Lauren said softly and with a smile usually reserved for a loving wife nursing her sick husband back to health. "How are you feeling, Darling?"

Lee swallowed, a strange tightening in his throat making it difficult to speak. "You know damn well how I feel," he replied hoarsely.

Lauren sat her tray down on the table beside the bed and moved him onto his back with a gentle nudge to his shoulder. He didn't resist and allowed her to move him, cooperating and hoping to determine once and for all if there was a national security issue here at all. As he turned, he realized that his strength was draining faster than he had realized, expelling an unexpected breathy groan at the movement. She sat down next to him and reached for the basin, wringing out a rag and then dabbing it lightly on his forehead.

"It wasn't me, Lee. You've got to believe me," she said, tenderly tending to him as he worked hard to keep his eyes in focus.

"Lauren, what does Lisa want?" he asked, still needing to know if her other personality was gaining intelligence before killing her husbands.

Lauren dipped the rag into the basin, wringing more cool water out and dabbed at his neck, shrugging a shoulder as she spoke softly. "I… I can't tell you. Believe me when I say that I love you, Lee," she pleaded, changing the subject.

"If you love me, Lauren, tell me what this is all about," he said, attempting to reach her gentle personality and get to the truth once and for all.

Lauren stopped her ministrations and dropped the rag into the basin, then folded her hands into her lap, dipping her head in what appeared to be shame.

"She…" Lauren swallowed hard, as if the truth were far too painful. Lee reached out and found her hand, squeezing it for support and urging her to continue. "She likes to… hurt people," she stammered out. "I don't know why, really," she added, looking into Lee's eyes as her own glistened in tears that pooled then fells down her cheeks.

Lee's eyes narrowed, needing clarification. "Lauren," he said, trying to focus her attention on him, all the while feeling pity for the guilt this side of her personality endured. Her eyes rose to meet his as he continued. "Did Lisa get anything from the other men; perhaps information that she might have sold?"

Lauren shook her head. "No, she doesn't care anything about that. She likes the uniforms, and once she chooses a man, she always gets him. I don't understand it really," she said standing and taking a step back. "But once she has them interested, she lets me love them, and I really did love them," she added quickly. "I try to make up for what Lisa has in mind for them. I try to talk her out of it, but she won't listen. She's stronger than me! Don't you understand? I can't stop her!"

Lee's energy levels waned, so he resigned himself to the reclining position until he regained some lost strength.

"Lauren, Lisa doesn't just 'hurt' people… she _kills_ them," he stated point blank. "You can't continue to be part of that. I don't know Lisa, but I know you. You don't want this. You don't want her to kill me too," he reasoned.

She stood appearing to be at odds with herself and turned away from him.

"Lauren?" he called weakly, his weariness from the drug induced pain draining away his strength with each passing moment. Her head dipped, and she started to turn back toward him. Lee thought that perhaps he had gotten through to her, but when she turned it was apparent that Lisa had returned. The harsh lines on her face, coupled with a cold, callous countenance signaled that the dangerous side of this complex woman had returned.

"Lauren can't help you, Lee. Like she said… I'm stronger than she is," she said, reaching into her jacket and pulling a hunting knife out from a scabbard. She held it up and turned it, inspecting the sharp edges that glinted in the light with every move of her hand.

Lee tried to rise on his elbow again as she took a menacing step toward him, but his strength failed and he couldn't manage it; falling back again helplessly, as Lisa approached sporting a disturbing, maniacal smile that assured him she was fully capable of cutting him into pieces without batting an eye.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Watch it!" Pat yelled just as Ski hit the brakes. The car slid to a rapid stop precariously close to a large boulder in the middle of the dirt road, an obvious result of a rock slide.

"That was close," Ski admitted with a blow of air.

"Yeah," Pat agreed, just as shaken. The night time driving on an unfamiliar road had been bad enough, but when they came around the corner they were unprepared for the sudden obstacle. "Let's take a look," he suggested, reaching for his flashlight.

Ski followed suit as they investigated the large granite boulder, shining the light up the side of the hill and following the path of the avalanche down with plenty of smaller rocks littering the road as well. Then they turned their attention to the dirt road, looking for tread marks, or any sign that another vehicle had recently passed.

Ski sighed, his beam of light flashing back and forth across the road as he checked one last time. He rounded the boulder to return to the car.

"It looks like we picked the wrong fork, Pat."

"I was thinking the same thing. This has probably been here for a while, look at how the vegetation is growing around this rock," he noted, pointing to a smaller, but good size rock that had rolled and settled off the road.

"The road ahead looks like it hasn't had traffic for some time. She didn't come this way," Ski concluded dejectedly.

"It's a good thing Mr. Morton is taking the other fork. We've been driving over an hour this way."

"Yeah, let's get back to the car and head for the fork. I've got a feeling that the Skipper is in deep trouble," Kowalski muttered, with the sight of an ill Captain Crane being ushered back to his car still as fresh in their minds as the devastating slam of the car door on his leg.

"Me too, Ski. Me too," Pat agreed, closing the car door as he reached for the radio to report to the Admiral. "Captain's Watch calling Base," Pat called.

"Go ahead Patterson, this is Nelson."

Pat exchanged a quick glance at Ski, who was maneuvering the car into another tight U-Turn.

"The left fork is a No-Go, Sir," Pat reported. "We followed it as far as is traversable." He heard a heaved breath on the other end, the one they heard Admiral Nelson make many times before when he was deep in thought.

"And you're sure that they couldn't have turned off _before_ the fork?"

"As sure as we can be, Sir," Pat replied, his confidence wavering; they had lost Lauren Crane because they had to fall back in order not to be detected. They had done their best to peruse their surroundings, but it had been dark at the time.

"We've already got…"

Admiral Nelson's transmission was interrupted as the two Ratings exchanged raised eyebrows. They waited patiently since the line was still open; a moment later the Admiral returned.

"Doc thinks he has something here, and if he's right, Captain Crane is going to need medical attention right away. We've got Morton on the right fork; you two head back to the fork and retrace the road back to the main road. Investigate all possible side roads with any evidence of recent traffic. Report immediately your findings, we've got a helicopter ready to leave as soon Doc gets his emergency supplies together."

"Aye Sir," Pat replied. "We're on our way, Captain's Watch out." Pat turned off the portable radio and looked toward the car's driver with worried eyes. "You heard him, Ski; let's make sure the Skipper's back is covered."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"What's your game, Lisa?" Lee challenged, obviously too ill to sit up as Lauren's second personality stopped short of reaching him.

"Nice try, Lee," she said, as he tried to rise, but fell back helplessly. "But I'm well aware of the properties of the drug I gave you. You're weak, but you've still got some fight left in you," she stated with a smirk.

Lee stared at her, keeping his face even and without emotion. She had indeed seen through his attempts to look too weak to fight her off. He only wished he had incapacitated Lauren when she was tending him, but then he hadn't gotten the information he needed yet. Even now, he needed Lisa to confirm what her alternate personality had told him.

"What do you want from me, Lisa? Information? Because you're not going to get it," he challenged, baiting her to answer both his and ONI's questions regarding how she benefited from her previous husbands' deaths.

Lisa laughed. It was the cynical, over-confident laugh of maniac if he'd ever heard it.

"You think I'm stealing Top Secret information from my husbands?" She laughed again. "Oh, that's rich, Lee," she taunted, though he avoided reacting. She reined in her cynicism and continued. "Lauren told you the truth; I couldn't care less about what little important secrets you men think you have," she spat out.

"Then it's the life insurance," he probed, methodically working to get to the motive behind her murders.

Lisa stepped back, moving further away from his reach and silently calculating when the drug would completely incapacitate him. "The insurance is nice; sets me up to continue to play my game, but I assure you, I have plenty of cash even without it."

"If it's not the money, then what?" Lee probed, working hard not to give her a clue that his strength was draining away far more quickly now.

She laughed again, this time it sent a chill up his back. It was pure evil; there were no two ways about it.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Lee," she said in husky whisper. "There is no Lisa… there never was," she revealed with another laugh. Lee's brow tightened at her revelation, trying to process her words as the roller coaster ride of accepting her multiple personalities was suddenly brought into question. "Oh Lee, you still don't get it, do you?" she let that question hang in the air a moment before proceeding. "I don't have split personality," she declared. "Let me prove it to you," she said, dropping her hand holding the knife down to her side and instantly taking on the soft lines of Lauren's persona. "Lee, darling," she said reaching her free hand out to him before dropping it to her side and laughing again. She changed back and forth between her two personas to prove her point, before settling back to something in between "sweet, loving Lauren" and "homicidal Lisa". "Oh my, you've been so much fun," she mused sickly. "Your PTSD afforded so much opportunity for drama, and playing with your mind was such a rush," she declared, referring to her many acts designed to throw him back into flashbacks.

Lee's eyes tightened as she continued.

"Oh, and I give you high marks for your performance in bed," she taunted. "I was almost sorry to bring it all to an end."

Lee studied her face and her quick transformation from Lauren to Lisa, then nodded in understanding. He had been duped big-time. She'd been playing with him, deceiving him into believing that she had a split personality, though he had no idea why except to play more mind games with him. She was a black widow for sure; a murderess that seemed to enjoy her sick games immensely. The thought made his blood boil.

"You stalk your husbands," he challenged with piercing eyes, "Seduce them into marrying you; and live in blissful marriage, only to murder them for some sick _pleasure_?"

Lauren smiled, not an ounce of regret in her eyes.

"You killed _three_ husbands just for the sport of it?!" he accused angrily, finally understanding her motivation.

"Oh no, that's where you're wrong. Not _three_ husbands, Lee… why you'll be number _eight_ ," she stated flatly, as the realization of Lauren's crimes began to sink in. The room almost spun with the realization of her unexpected confession. She noticed his shock and chuckled. "I know, I know. I don't fit the psychological profile of what do they call it?" she asked, searching for the right words playfully, "…a serial killer," she said, finishing her own rhetorical question.

"You've gotten away with murder _seven_ times?" he asked incredulously, his mind having a hard time wrapping around this new revelation, especially in such a physically compromised position.

"The trick is never using the same method twice," she announced proudly. "Well, I _am_ on my third alias, but you would be surprised how easy it is to reinvent yourself when you have the right funds and know the right people. I admit, keeping my alias for you was dangerous, but you provided such a temptation for me and I was already bored with Rod anyway. You know what they say? Out with the old; in with the new," she recited callously.

She stopped and looked at her watch and smiled knowingly.

"Almost time, Lee," she said playing with the large hunting knife, running her finger across the broad side of it appreciatively.

"Just how are you going to explain knife wounds on my drugged body," he challenged.

"I won't have to explain a thing, Lee," she said with another cynical smile. "You see, the drug I used on you is quite different from anything I've used in the past. In fact, it will make perfect sense here in the woods."

Lee swallowed hard, his throat tight and swollen, and he was sorely tired of conversing with a psychotic murderer.

"What are you talking about, Lauren?" he demanded angrily, wishing she'd get to the point.

"You, my dear, have been given a synthetic drug that simulates a very toxic snake bite with incredible accuracy."

Lee's forehead tightened in disbelief, his symptoms suddenly making sense.

"A coral snake to be exact," she continued, obviously proud of her perceived genius. "So, you see, the woods are the perfect location for your accidental death."

Lee was struggling to comprehend the absolute lack of humanity in the woman before him, when suddenly, without warning, she stepped forward and lunged at him with the knife. His reflexes were slow, his arms moving sluggishly, if not ineffectively, in an effort to protect himself. His legs, however, were more than sluggish, and barely moved upon command. Lauren's attack, however, suddenly ended as she stepped back and laughed.

"Right on time," she declared victoriously with another glance at her watch. "Paralysis has set in."

 **VTTBOTS**

"Are you sure, Jamie?" Admiral Nelson inquired as Seaview's doctor and Dr. Erickson, ONI's toxicologist, both nodded an affirmative. The two men had burst into the room still wearing their white lab coats, interrupting Harry's transmission as Patterson reported. He had given the Ratings new orders to backtrack along the dirt road, in an effort to make sure their bases were covered should the right fork come up empty before ending the transmission and turning to inquire more.

"Absolutely, Admiral. We spent several hours going round and round with poisons, before Dr. Erickson made the discovery. It's a synthetic venom, not natural; that's what threw us off, but we've isolated the active ingredients and we know what we're looking at."

"The properties most closely resemble that of a coral snake," Dr. Erickson chimed in. "They're from the elapid family of snakes, which include the black mambas and cobras and their venom is extremely toxic."

"But the drug was found in trace amounts?" Harry questioned, seeking to ascertain the danger.

"Agreed, but after Kowalski and Patterson's report of how ill Lee appeared only a few hours ago… we're surmising she gave him a full dose," Jamieson replied, remembering well that Lauren Crane was suspected of murdering three husbands. After witnessing the cruel game she played, when she thought Lee was suffering from PTSD, it wasn't far-fetched to believe that she was capable of far worse.

"Which means..."

"That depending on the amount she gave him, Lee's life could be in serious jeopardy at this very moment," Jamie replied.

"A coral snake's bite can cause relatively minor discomfort for up to several hours; but if left untreated, the victim finds themselves in tremendous pain. But of even more concern, is the fact that the snake possesses a powerful neurotoxin that relaxes breathing muscles, eventually requiring artificial means to prevent respiratory failure. The bite can be fatal if not treated," Dr. Erickson noted solemnly.

"Treatment?" Harry inquired, not wasting any time and already making mental notes of what orders he needed to issue next.

"Antivenin in large amounts," Jamie replied readily. "We made the necessary calls to a local hospital; it should be delivered here within a half-hour."

"Very well," Harry said, reaching for the phone as he spoke. "Get everything you need together, Jamie; and be ready to go as soon as that antivenin is delivered."

"Aye Sir," Jamieson replied, turning with Dr. Erickson to tend to the medical supplies necessary to treat a dangerously ill Captain Crane.

Harry was already dialing even as the two doctors turned to leave.

One phone call to ONI's Director would put everything in motion; but first, he needed to make contact with Lee's best hope of survival on the front lines; Chip Morton.

 **VTTBOTS**

"You're a sick mental case," Lee breathed out at Lauren's glee regarding the paralysis that was overtaking his legs; making his lower extremities unresponsive; and yet, not shielding him from the pain of his broken leg.

"Not by a long shot, Lee. I know exactly what I'm doing," she countered, lowering the knife toward his leg. The move was menacing, but he could do little to defend himself as she lowered the blade, amused with herself as she used it to slice through his pant leg. "Now, if you were bitten by a snake, the coroner would expect to see fang marks," she pondered, enjoying the fact that she intentionally made him believe she was going to attack. She smiled knowingly and reached into her inside jacket pocket to pull out a small box. She opened it and carefully pulled out the decapitated head of a dead coral snake. "You know the interesting thing about snakes?" she asked rather whimsically. "Even after the head is severed, the snake's bite reflex is still active and is able to strike up until an hour later," she mused with an amused shake of her head. "Now this one has been dead for a good deal longer than that, but as you can see, it died trying to attack again," she continued, referring to the two fangs that were extended and exposed in the snake's wide-open mouth, as if trying to avenge its death with one last strike.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess what she was going to do next as she plunged the fangs into his exposed calf, producing a cry of pain as she mercilessly ground the fangs in his calf, making sure she drew blood.

Lee recovered from the attack, but was breathing hard as she carefully replaced the black and yellow striped snake's head back into her box.

"Now, there's still venom residue on the snake's fangs; that will produce enough evidence of the source of your demise. It won't be quite as dramatic as a live snake bite, but your skin will turn red and swell enough for the coroner to put two and two together and declare your death an unfortunate run-in with a snake."

"You seemed to have thought of everything," he breathed out with an accompanying hard to manage swallow, as she smiled and sat down on the bed near his increasingly unresponsive legs. She picked up the knife and continued playing with it, obviously buying time as she waited for the venom to continue to deteriorate his condition.

"I always do, Lee, but I have to admit, this was my most elaborate and clever plan yet. I'm not sure how I'm going to top your death," she said with a sigh. "That's the high you know; planning a murder so well you can walk away scot-free and above suspicion eight times. It's a high like you've never known," she finished, as a shot of adrenaline surged through her body at the evil thought.

Lee swallowed again; the symptoms of the venom were impossible to ignore and the illness was draining his strength. He was fully aware that his condition was more than a bit precarious, and that he'd need medical attention soon. He was also acutely aware that he had backup out there somewhere, but years of undercover experience told him that he couldn't count on it. He had to do what he could to survive on his own.

It was becoming harder to think now, as he quickly ran through his options. He knew he had very few left, and so, he decided to use the only hand he had left to play.

"It seems you got tired of me pretty fast, since your last three husbands all lasted six months or more," he stated, baiting her into the conversation.

"I was successful in isolating the others from their family and friends," she explained, reaching over and checking the progress on his calf, "but I could tell with how excited you were to go back to work…"

She interrupted herself in mid-sentence and looked at Lee, studying him for a moment before she spoke again.

"How did you know how long my previous marriages lasted? I only talked about Rod."

"You've told me all _your_ secrets… don't you want to hear mine before I die?" he breathed out with enough raw emotion to get her attention, as she leaned slightly forward, sensing that what he had to say was vitally important to her.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Morton," Chip said, answering the call from the NIMR issued SAT phone.

"Chip, this is Nelson. What's your status?"

"We're just making it back onto the main road. We've investigated a few roads leading to small cabins in the area. So far, we've come up with nothing, most are vacation cabins and not in use. Sheriff Perkins tells me that there aren't too many more cabins this far in, we'll be reaching the National Forest boundaries soon."

"Keep at it, Lee's going to need medical treatment ASAP."

"Sir?"

"Jamieson has identified the chemicals in Lee's sample; snake venom. If his illness at the gas station is any indication, we believe she's given him the full dose. He'll need medical treatment right away. Once you find him, get him someplace where we can put down the chopper."

"Aye Sir, we'll find him," Chip assured before signing off, blowing an incredulous breath out and still not believing the turn of events this mission had taken.

"Landing a helicopter at night, in the middle of the forest?" Perkins repeated incredulously, over-hearing most of the conversation.

"We'll worry about that later, right now the important thing is finding them," Chip replied, barely keeping his concern in check as Perkins reached for the mic on his radio.

"Unit 3, this is Unit 1. Ramirez, how is that side road panning out?"

"No signs of life back here. We've already turned around."

"Okay, get back on the main road, things have gone from bad to worse. If they're right about his condition, Commander Crane is going to need a Medevac."

"We're making our way there now; Unit 3 out."

"Ten-four," Perkins replied, hanging up the mic as Chip scanned the dark forest looking for any signs of life.

"So how many more side roads before we hit the National Forest?"

"Only a few more," the Sheriff replied, biting his lip in thought. "Roll down your window, Chip."

Chip raised an eyebrow, but obeyed the strange request despite the chill the dark forest produced as they traveled down the dirt road.

"Keep looking for any light shining through the trees, and if we're lucky, maybe we'll smell a fireplace or woodstove in use," Perkins explained.

Chip nodded, more than willing to endure the cold if it brought them closer to finding Lee.

 **VTTBOTS**

For the first time, Lee thought he saw Lauren flinch as she realized that perhaps she wasn't in total control of the situation.

"What do you mean, 'secrets'?"

"Don't you think it's strange that a man with PTSD hasn't freaked out yet at being drugged, assaulted, and deceived into believing his wife has a split personality? Only to find out that the love of his life is a serial killer?" he added, ticking off all the disturbing high-points of the day's revelations.

Lauren's cheek twitched, it was apparent that she'd been so into playing her game that she didn't noticed that he hadn't had a traumatic flashback.

"You're trying to confuse me; it won't work. You practically killed Patterson yourself," she tested, remembering how easy it had been to push him over the edge before. "He was devoured by a shark in front of your eyes while you were too frozen in fear to save him!"

"Patterson is alive and well. We made up the whole thing, Lauren, just to get to you," he revealed harshly, upping the intensity a little and watching her cool resolve of earlier fade as anger and confusion set in.

" _We_?" she asked in a one-word question.

"Did you really think you could marry and kill three military men without _someone_ taking notice?" he taunted. "ONI was onto you after Rod died."

"ONI?"

"Naval Intelligence," he answered breathily, getting sicker by the moment and needing to play this hand before his body gave out on him.

"What do they have to do with it?" she questioned, trying to act like she wasn't the least bit concerned, even though he could tell she was visibly shaken.

"He didn't tell you, did he?" Lee asked with a small grin of realization.

"Tell me what?" she demanded, standing and stepping away from the bed to pace with the knife still in her hand.

"Tell me," he taunted, "just how was Rod injured when you first met?"

"Training accident aboard a destroyer…"

Lee smiled, the final evidence he needed that Rod hadn't spilt any top secret information, since he hadn't even told her he was an operative.

"Wrong!" he countered loudly, "It looks like Rod had _his_ secrets too. You didn't know that he was an ONI Operative, did you? An agent? An undercover spy in the intelligence community?" he questioned, goading her into what he hoped would be a confrontation to bring her close enough to overpower her while he still had some strength left.

"Rod loved me," she countered angrily, her abilities somewhat shaken by the revelation, in a character reveal of just how vain and over-confident she was.

"Maybe so, but something in him didn't quite trust you."

Lauren lowered her eyes, then raised them again as Lee's words began to sink in.

"And what about you? Are you ONI as well?"

"I was just in the right place at the right time and ONI needed my help to bring in a suspected Black Widow," he answered, careful to protect his identity. "But I had full disclosure of the suspected murders of your three husbands. I only married you to trap a murderer," he stated bluntly, adding insult to injury to her bruised ego.

"Liar! You loved me, I _know_ you did!" she yelled arrogantly.

"I _used_ you!" he yelled, "just like you used Rod and the others!" He knew she was nearing her breaking point, her over-confidence was her weakness; her arrogance the perfect target.

She swallowed hard, turning slightly and taking in the shocking revelation, before seemingly regaining her composure.

"You used me, I see that now; but, something went wrong didn't it, Lee?" she stated, turning slowly and regaining the cold hard eyes of a serial killer. "I mean, where are they?" she chuckled without humor, swaying her hands out in front of her. "You're in here dying in the middle of the forest, and there's no one to help you, is there?"

"It's over, Lauren. Even if I don't pull through, they'll know you did it."

"Then it won't matter if I slice you into a thousand pieces!" she yelled and lunged for him with the large hunting knife, raised high and poised to strike.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"There's another turn-off to the right up ahead," Sheriff Perkins noted.

"I think I smell wood burning," Chip noted, concentrating on the faint smell lightly scenting the breezy cool night.

Perkins nodded and reached for the radio mic. "Unit 3, proceed on the main road; we'll investigate this side road."

"Ten-four."

Perkins shipped the mic and then made the sharp turn onto a narrow dirt road.

"Looks like fresh tread marks," Chip noted, leaning forward to see the silty dirt and the deep tread marks still present in the breeze.

"Yeah, but it could be locals, or a vacationer," he reminded Chip.

Chip nodded, his attention divided between watching for signs of life and following the faint smell of wood burning in the distance.

 **VTTBOTS**

Lee wasn't unprepared for her attack; he had hoped that he had pushed her over the edge enough to push her into acting foolishly. He allowed her to close in completely as she committed herself to the attack, attempting to plunge the knife into his heart. Lee reached up with one hand to stop the downward motion of the knife and pulled her yet closer, grabbing her waist in the process. In one swift move, he pulled her down on him and rolled her over on her back, holding the hand bearing the knife down as he used his body weight to counter her struggles.

She bucked wildly under him, but he managed to hold her down, finding strength from deep within, despite his weakened state. It was then that her eyes tightened in determination and she found her target, kicking Lee's vulnerable broken leg. He yelled in pain and his hold faltered for only a second, but she seized upon the moment, kicking him off her. He rolled in pain and tumbled off the bed landing on his back.

Lee's vision blurred; his broken leg suffering again from the impact of the fall. The next thing he knew she was screaming wildly and diving from the bed with the knife poised in a strike position. He barely had time to thwart her attack, rolling with the last of his strength as she descended, pinning her under him once again. He expected to continue the struggle, when all the fight suddenly drained from her body. He looked down to see a splotch of blood on her blouse and realized that she had lost control of the knife and that it was now embedded in her stomach.

He rolled off her as best as his sluggish body would allow him; she had been right, paralysis was setting in, though he could still feel the agony of his injuries, his legs had become nearly useless. He ignored both his own suffering and his condition to assess the damage.

"Damn it, Lauren! Why did you make me do it?" he questioned angrily mixed with sorrow at her injury.

"Lee…" she cried in sheer pain, "hurts... help me."

She reached for the offending knife to pull it out when he stopped her hand.

"Leave it there; you'll bleed to death if you remove it."

"Help… me," she cried pitifully.

"Put pressure here," he instructed, "don't pull it out and I'll get help," he said, dipping his head and blinking away the pain. The struggle had spent what little reserves he had left.

"Lee... I really did love you," she said in a whimper.

He looked at her, but didn't answer; he seriously doubted that she was capable of loving anyone. Instead, he attempted to use the bed to pull himself up, but only got as far as his knees and fell back. It was simply too much; his legs had stopped working. He lay for a moment breathing hard and trying to gather his strength when her cries of pain refocused him.

"I'll be back," he breathed out and began scooting himself away from her.

"Don't leave me… Lee," she begged.

"Is there a phone here?" he asked, scooting his way back until he cleared her legs.

"Yes," she managed.

He heard her ragged breaths behind him, as he crawled through the open bedroom door, scooting along the hardwood floor and dragging himself arm over arm through the hall in a monumental effort to reach the phone. He was deathly ill, and he was well aware the energy he was expending was draining away his life; but the humanity in him couldn't let her die without trying. So, he continued to drag himself until he reached the cabin living room. He scanned the room, looking for the phone when he heard something behind him. Instinctively, he looked over his shoulder to see Lauren staggering out of the bedroom; her shirt full of blood and the knife in her hand, raised high and coming for him.

She took one step at a time, using one hand to steady herself on the wall, the other holding the knife as she breathed raggedly for the effort.

"I'm coming… for you… Lee," she promised, every step a massive effort, fueled by her maniacal, psychotic need to kill.

Lee scooted further away from her, not knowing how long either of them could keep going.

"Once I've loved you… you have to die," she declared, as she seemed to find strength with each new step. "Don't you know… that's how it works? A black widow… always kills… her mate," she said airily with eerily disturbing eyes.

"Lauren, stop," he urged, attempting to reach some sane part of her. "You need help, let me help you." He stopped to breathe and discovered that he couldn't move any further. The paralysis had moved up his legs to his hips, and now his arms were refusing to obey him; no doubt helped along by the increased blood flow in his exertion. In his final act of self-preservation, he rolled on his back hoping to fight her off as she moved closer to him.

Lauren Crane pushed herself away from the wall, swaying only slightly before righting herself and smiling wickedly; one hand holding her bloody middle, the other with the knife raised high.

"You can't move anymore… can you, Lee?" she breathed out, clearly weakened by enormous blood loss as evidenced by the large red stain on her blouse.

"Listen to me, Lauren, you don't have to do this," he reasoned with a painful swallow. "I'm half-dead already," he reasoned, and realizing that if she struck now he'd be unable to protect himself.

She looked him in the eyes, and something changed in her countenance. In that moment, he thought he saw the caring wife she had pretended to be for three months. He thought, perhaps, he had reached her, but then she looked down at the red splotch of blood on her blouse and chuckled; seeing, at least in her mind, the red hour glass marking of a black widow.

The wild eyes of a psychotic homicidal maniac returned as she raised the knife intending to plunge it deep into his torso when an unexpected voice cut through the air and stopped her in mid-motion.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Lauren! No!" Chip Morton yelled, taking a step into the cabin through the door. "Put it down, Lauren," he coaxed as Lee lay helpless under her, breathing hard with the coral snake venom stealing all his strength in the devastating symptoms of its venom.

She remained with her hand poised ready to strike, her eyes moving back and forth between from the gravely ill man under her to Morton standing in the doorway.

"It's over, Lauren," Lee said airily.

"No Darling," she whispered, too low for Chip to hear across the room. "Not until you're DEAD!" she said, screaming on the last word and plunging the knife in a downward movement.

Instantly, the sound of a gun report stopped her motion, the momentum of Sheriff Perkin's bullet throwing her to one side as she lay curled in a fetal position, the knife still clutched in her hand.

Chip crossed the floor quickly, coming to Lee's side as Perkins took a knee beside Lauren.

Lee's head rolled toward Lauren, his view obscured by the sheriff. "Is… she…?" He swallowed hard, unable to continue.

Chip glanced over at Perkins, his negative nod indicating the answer.

"She's dead, Lee," Chip answered.

"Damn," he groaned, partly out of regret, mostly because the deadly snake's venom was stealing his life away.

"Let's get you out of here, Lee," Chip said, knowing they didn't have any time to spare.

"Can't… move," he replied his speech slurred and too ill for many more words.

"You grab his shoulders, I'll get his feet," Perkins suggested, adding a short tilt of his head toward Lauren's dead body. "There's nothing else that can be done for her, my men will secure the scene after we get Commander Crane help."

"Watch his leg, it may be broken," Chip reminded, as Perkins nodded and reached for his knees instead, invoking a painful groan at his legs being moved at all, with the paralysis only working one-way as Lee was still acutely aware of his pain even though he couldn't move his limbs.

"He's bad off, he's going to need that Medevac," Chip noted, as the two men picked Lee up and carried him across the cabin to the front door.

"I have an idea about that," the Sheriff answered, indicating he had it covered.

Lee's eyes were closed, his forehead furled, apparently just enduring the man-handling ride to the car.

"Almost there," Chip encouraged as Lee's breathing seemed even more labored than before.

They laid him in the back of the SUV, with Chip climbing in to tend to Lee and Perkins heading for the driver's side. Perkins put the vehicle in gear and wasted no time backing out.

"It's going to be bumpy," he said over his shoulder.

"We'll be all right, just get us someplace where we can get a chopper down," Chip urged, pulling out the SAT phone and dialing.

"Nelson."

"Admiral, we found him. He's in bad shape, he'll need treatment soon."

"We're on our way; we just need to know where."

"Tell him Prospector's Meadow, it's on the topographic maps," Perkins said over his shoulder. "We'll set up a perimeter with flares to land," he added, answering the question of how the helicopter would land in the middle of the forest at night.

Chip nodded and relayed the message. "Sheriff Perkins says Prospector's Meadow; he's going to mark out a landing site with flares."

"Very well, ETA is roughly an hour."

"Aye Sir, hurry," he added just as Perkins slowed down at the sight of the second sheriff vehicle approaching them on the dirt road. He reached for his radio, "Ramirez; Perkins here. We've got a dead body at the cabin at the end of the road about a half-mile back. Drop Hawkins off to secure the scene and meet us at Prospector's Meadow to meet the Medevac."

"Ten-four," Ramirez answered, as the two vehicles each crowded the edge of the small road to allow one another to pass.

Chip was busy wrapping an emergency blanket around Lee and immobilizing his leg when he heard a faint voice.

"Chip…"

"I'm here, Lee."

"Not sure… gonna make it," he said airily; his eyes open, but strangely drooping.

"Lee…" Chip said before being interrupted by his best friend's weak voice.

"She was crazy, Chip. Not _three_ dead husbands… _seven_ … I was supposed to be eight…" he said, stopping to swallow.

"Hold on, Lee," Chip said, grabbing a bottle of water from the emergency supplies and holding his head to take a drink.

Lee swallowed and nodded he couldn't take anymore.

"Save your strength," Chip urged but Lee ignored his request, continuing in an overwhelming need to report.

"Wasn't stealing secrets… she didn't even know Rod… was ONI… just a homicidal maniac…" he added, and then groaned.

"Lee…"

"She played me, Chip… fooled me… for a long time," he breathed out, his weakened physical state making his emotions all too raw.

Chip nodded, remembering how conflicted Lee's emotions were until she finally started engaging in active mind games with his feigned PTSD.

"A black widow…" he said before his head dropped to one side unconscious.

Chip swallowed in concern. "How soon till we reach the landing site?" he called to Perkins, making eye contact through the rearview mirror.

"Ten to fifteen," Perkins answered, just as the dust stirred from Ramirez' SUV became visible behind them, having dropped off Hawkins at the cabin and then speeding to catch up with them.

Chip nodded and blew a breath out, placing a worried hand on Lee's shoulder. "Hold on, buddy… just hold on," he whispered, wondering if the Black Widow would yet add one final victim to her list of dead husbands.

 **VTTBOTS**

"There!" Admiral Nelson said, pointing down at a circle of red flares.

"How big is the meadow?" the pilot asked, wanting to know how tight a fit he was going to have setting the helicopter down in a forest when all he could see was about five feet out from the flares.

"Chip, we've got the landing zone in sight. The pilot wants to know how much clearance the zone has from the surrounding trees."

"It's a good-sized meadow, Sir. The size of a football field, at least."

The pilot nodded his approval.

"Very well, clear the landing zone, we're coming in."

 **VTTBOTS**

Jamie sat with his doctor's bag in his lap. He heard the conversation in the cockpit through his headphones and knew they were about to land. He sighed, looking down to his feet where the rest of his medical supplies sat, and thought back to all the blood tests he had drawn from Lee since this nightmare began over three months ago. His forehead tightened in regret, remembering how much faith Lee had placed in him to look for any anomaly in his blood that would signal that Lauren Crane was making her move.

It was all so ludicrous; it seemed like he was stuck in a bad dream, playing out the bizarre part that the mind doles out in wild roles and circumstances. The thought of a woman killing three prior husbands was bad enough, but the idea that a man would willingly put himself in harm's way by marrying her was nearly absurd. Of course, it made perfect sense when that man was Lee Crane.

He felt the helicopter's forward movement stop as the large aircraft hovered for a moment and looked ahead to see a crude red circle lit up for the landing zone. He focused himself, knowing that Lee needed him to be on his game, but his moment of self-recrimination wouldn't let go quite so easily.

 _Pull yourself together_ , _Will_ , he admonished silently. He knew that he and his team had spotted the trace amount of drug, just as he promised Lee he'd do; and that it had only taken he and Dr. Erickson four hours to discover the synthetic drug simulating elapid venom. They had done their job, but it would all be for nothing if they didn't get to Lee in time.

He had no idea what to expect, but after witnessing how Lauren Crane tried to derail Lee's "recovery", he knew that she was capable of the murders she was suspected of. He was convinced of that when she staged Lee's bathroom with blood in his coffee cup and a swim fin to remind him of Patterson's "severed foot." The diseased mind that could push a man suffering from PTSD that far, was capable of worse he had decided. He would never understand the depravity of man to cruelly inflict pain on another human being. But to realize that Lee's injuries this time came from a woman he actually married was so foreign he couldn't fathom it. Evil knows no boundaries; he knew that, he only hoped he'd be able to help Lee fight for his life now; because he was convinced that that's what he was doing at this very moment.

The helicopter descended and Jamie held onto his medical bag tightly, ready to pull off his headset and jump into action as soon as the marine corporal opened the bay door.

 _Keep fighting, Lee,_ he urged his friend and captain silently. He felt the soft thud of the landing and readied himself. A few seconds later the door was open and he was running into action, not even waiting for Admiral Nelson to exit the chopper.

 **VTTBOTS**

Sheriff Perkins met Jamie across the landing zone and guided him to the SUV where Lee lay. The wind generated from the helicopter blades left a biting chill in Jamie's bones which he ignored, his focus completely on his patient. Chip saw his approach and jumped out to give Jamieson more room.

"How long has he been like this?" Jamie asked, noting right away Lee's fitful state, his head tossing and turning with unchecked groans escaping through airy labored breaths.

"Since he fell unconscious, about a half-hour ago," Chip replied, clearly worried as well.

"What about his speech? Any slurring?"

"Yes, and his eyes were strange."

Jamie nodded, recognizing the droopy eye symptom even though his patient was unconscious, as all previous self-recrimination took a back seat to the medical emergency. Dr. Jamieson was in professional mode; no time to coddle his personal concerns or regrets for not finding the drug's secrets sooner. Right now, all that mattered was taking care of his critically ill patient. He raised the hypo up and adjusted the plunger, removing air bubbles before he injected his patient with his first dose of antivenin. As is often the case, multiple doses were expected, but at least his body would have a fighting chance with this first dose.

Jamie climbed out, giving the marines room to transfer Lee onto a stretcher; he'd stabilize him in the helicopter. The marines were efficient, moving Lee and strapping him down before pulling him out of the back of the SUV. They paused as Jamie felt Lee's pulse and then nodded for them to continue to the chopper. He followed behind, ignoring everything else going on around him and completely focused on Lee Crane's care.

 **VTTBOTS**

Harry sidled up next to Chip watching Jamie's medical ministrations.

"What about Lauren?" he asked, hoping that she had not slipped away somehow.

"When we got there, she was hovering over Lee with a knife. He couldn't move anymore, she intended on ending his life right then and there." He paused a moment then continued. "She's dead. We gave her an opportunity to surrender, but she went for Lee again. Sheriff Perkins had no choice."

Harry nodded, just as Perkins stepped in closer, addressing the admiral and speaking loudly over the helicopter blades.

"My men and I will secure the scene."

"Thank you, Sheriff Perkins. ONI will be in contact with you regarding whatever evidence you find," Harry instructed, as Lee's stretcher was pulled from the SUV.

"Got it," Perkins said, even as all their eyes were drawn to the critically ill man being hustled to the helicopter.

Harry offered a hand out to the Sheriff. "Thanks for everything, Sheriff," he offered sincerely. "Come as soon as you can, Chip."

"Aye Sir," he acknowledged, wishing he could climb in the chopper with them, but realizing that FS-1 would afford him a fast ride home, nonetheless.

He stepped back and watched as Harry boarded, followed by the chopper winding up for a vertical take-off. Perkins held his hat in place as a rush of wind from the chopper threatened to dislodge it from his head. Once the chopper reached an altitude to clear the trees it turned, picking up speed, before heading off into the night. They secured the flares to guard against a forest fire and then headed back to the cabin.

 **VTTBOTS**

 _Lee drifted off to a pained sleep; a flash of light took him to the familiar dream of standing on the edge of an open grave watching a coffin lowering into the pit below. The "widow" dressed in a black dress stood on the opposite side of the grave, dabbing her eyes under her black lace veil, playing out a scene he had dreamed earlier in the day. As the coffin reached its destination six feet below, the grave diggers paused for her to toss in the first handful of dirt. She reached down, picking up the loose soil at her feet and held it out over the coffin, allowing it to sprinkle slowly onto the box below. Lee watched as the dark soil suddenly turned into a white powder, dropping onto the coffin and heaping into a large peak before she stepped away, allowing the grave diggers to finish their job. He turned to watch the widow walk away dabbing at her eyes and furled his forehead in question of who was being buried. Behind him, the sound of earth being shoveled onto the coffin below caught his attention and he turned back, compelled to watch. Another shovel of dirt was heaved below, but the coffin was now absent as the dirt covered the corpse completely, all except for the face. Panic overtook him, though he was frozen in place at the recognition that the corpse was_ _ **him**_ _. His eyes and mouth were open, as if in a silent scream, then suddenly the eyes moved back and forth, begging someone without words to free him before the grave was filled. He struggled to cry out, but no one heard; no one saw that he was being buried alive…_

Lee's head tossed from side to side, his mind warring with his illness in a desperate need to wake from the horrific nightmare.

"Lee?" he heard faintly, but the call was enough to bring him closer to wakefulness. Another call finally broke him free as his eyes fluttered open with an accompanying groan.

"You're safe now," Jamie assured his patient and friend. "We're on the way to the hospital. Do you understand?"

Lee searched Jamie's eyes, anchoring himself and nodding slightly. His breathing was still ragged, though the pain dulled now. His eyes trailed up to the IV hanging over him and realized it was true. He managed a small smile and closed his eyes, soaking in the hum of the engines and the loud blast of the rotors taking him home.

He drifted off again, this time far from the nightmares of Lauren Crane.

 **VTTBOTS**

Jamie watched Lee's labored breaths carefully, ready to intubate him should his breathing muscles succumb to the paralysis. He had treated the fang wound on his calf with a compression bandage, a new treatment the Australians had developed; surprised to see puncture marks since Lauren had used a drug to deliver the venom. He was well aware that the coral snake's envenomation system was less effective than pit vipers, though the venom was just as toxic; and with the development of antivenin the death rate had significantly fallen for coral snakes. However, Lee had received his dose in drug form, and in no doubt, significant levels. At this point, Lee Crane was fighting for his life in a full-blown medical emergency.

He was also watching Lee carefully for cardiac failure, knowing that the complications of the untreated envenomation were significant. He was keeping careful watch on his patient and had made the decision to take Lee to Med Bay in Santa Barbara instead of the nearest local hospital. The decision would cost them another hour of flight time, but his vital signs supported his decision at the time. He still believed it was the right course of action, even if he had to intubate his patient in the air. Unfortunately, his foresight had been correct, as Lee's labored breaths took a turn for the worse.

Jamie enlisted the aid of the marine medic, seeking to relieve his patient's labored breathing before he suffered a complete respiratory failure. He nodded to the medic, who raised Lee's shoulders, stretching his neck back and inserted the breathing tube. The topical anesthetic made the process easier, but the body's reflex was still to reject the intrusion until it was in place. A moment later, his patient was breathing through an air tube, the potential medical emergency averted. He continued to monitor his patient, and was very concerned that Lee hadn't woken during the intubation process as he had been known to do in the past. He would need another blood sample to know for sure, but he was already making plans for a second dose of antivenin, given Lee's current condition.

He sat back and checked his watch; another half-hour. _Hold on Skipper_ , he urged silently and continued his skilled vigil as Operation Captain's Watch had resolutely passed from the Search and Rescue Teams to him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Chip called Kowalski and Patterson, giving them a quick update and thanking them for their part in the search. They were more than ready to aid in any way at the cabin, but Chip released them to return to Santa Barbara; where, he suspected, they would continue Operation Captain's Watch unofficially in the Med Bay waiting room. He turned off the SAT phone, and lowered the antenna with a sigh.

"I know what you mean," Perkins said regarding Chip's sigh. They were currently taking the same dirt road they had just traveled back to the cabin, and both were still trying to make sense of the scene they had burst in on at the cabin; Lee lying on the floor, severely ill from a mean dose of snake venom; and Lauren, hovering over him with a bloody knife in her hand, and covered with her own blood.

"At least it's over now," Chip replied introspectively. "She'll never be able to do this again." He sighed again, lowering his eyes for a moment, before continuing. "Tom, I want to thank you for what you did. I know for a fact, that you saved Lee's life."

Perkins kept his eyes on the road, and nodded. "I wish I could have avoided her death; but, Chip, I saw the eyes of a maniac if I've ever seen them before. I knew if I didn't take her out, she'd use every last ounce of her strength to strike at Crane."

"You were right, Tom. Lee told me he was supposed to be dead husband number _eight_ ," he said with a side glance of disbelief. "We only knew about three others."

"Damn," Perkins replied softly.

"Yeah," he agreed wholeheartedly.

 **VTTBOTS**

Admiral Nelson wasn't one to display his deep concern openly, but anyone who knew him well could easily spot the intensity in his deep blue eyes and furled brow. Harry watched as Lee was unloaded from the chopper and placed onto the ambulance gurney, pursing his lips at the sight of the newly inserted breathing tube. The white pallor of his face indicated Lee was gravely ill, even though he had already been treated with antivenin. Jamie was attentive, completely ignoring Harry's presence; another sign that Lee's health was indeed precarious.

Med Bay staff strapped their patient down securely while Jamie barked out treatment orders as he trotted alongside the gurney. Harry knew this wasn't the time to ask for an update. He followed the gurney in, noting that Lee hadn't stirred for all the activity around him and felt his concern heighten. Uncomfortable with doing nothing, he pursed his lips in determination and turned for the nearest phone, dialing the number by heart and attempting to bring his strong emotions down a notch as Chip Morton answered.

"Morton."

"Chip, I'm going to need some details to report to ONI. Are you at a place where you can report?"

"Aye Sir, let me step out of the cabin…"

"Use the SUV," Harry heard in the background, assuming one of the officers on the scene had offered a place for Chip to report in the night air. Only a moment passed before he heard a car door open then close again.

"I'm in a secure location, Sir," Chip reported.

"Very well, I need everything you've got, Chip."

"Aye Sir. We arrived at the cabin and spotted Lauren's car out front. The cabin was shuttered, but there was smoke from the stove pipe and light shining through the shutters. We moved around quietly, trying to ascertain if Lee was ready for the extraction. We took a chance and unlocked a shutter in the back of the cabin; that's when we spotted blood on the floor beside the bed. So, we headed straight for the front door, there was no back way in," he explained, reporting the facts without emotion. "When we opened the door, we found Lauren over the top of Lee with a knife, a very big knife, ready to strike. She was wounded, a gut wound; the blood we saw was apparently hers. Lee was incapacitated, he may have been trying to make it to the phone, but at that point he couldn't move. I tried to reason with her, but she said something to Lee that I couldn't make out, and then tried to plunge the knife into him. Sheriff Perkins took the shot, she died instantly. And there's something else, Sir."

"Go on," Harry replied, utilizing his own substantial self-control to tamp down his own emotions.

"She was wild-eyed… crazy even. I think mentally insane, Sir. The Sheriff says he saw the eyes of a maniac in her."

Harry sighed through pursed lips. "What about the mission? Was Lee able to report?"

"A little, Sir; in the SUV."

Harry waited as Chip gathered his thoughts and continued.

"Lee confirmed that Lauren wasn't after Intelligence. He said that Rod hadn't even confided that he was ONI with her."

"Then what was her agenda?" Harry questioned as his forehead tightening in question.

"Lee described her as a homicidal maniac. He said there were more than three dead husbands, and that he was supposed to be number _eight_."

The silence on the phone was palpable as Harry processed the new revelation.

"I'm flabbergasted, Chip… she murdered _seven_ men?"

"Aye Sir. Lee was pretty upset when he told me. He said she 'played' him and that he was _fooled_ for a long time."

"Hmmm," Harry pondered. "I know he wasn't completely able to detach; but, I don't think he ever believed she was innocent."

"I agree, Sir. I get the feeling something else happened. Something he didn't have a chance to tell me about."

"Very well. We'll just have to wait for Lee to fill us in. For now, this is enough to report what ONI wanted to know."

"Sir, how is Lee?" Chip asked, finally able to get to the burning question now that he had reported.

"Jamieson's still working on him. How long before you're finished there?" Harry answered, before changing the subject abruptly.

"Sheriff Perkins has it under control. We did find a gun."

"But you said she attacked him with a knife?" Harry questioned.

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense, but it looks like Lee pretty much dragged himself across the floor toward the phone, we saw marks on the hardwood floor to support this. The trail of blood she left in the hall was left over the drag marks; and well Sir, it looks like she was stalking him."

Another huff of breath was heard on the phone, and Chip knew the Admiral was very affected by the turn of events.

"How about personal effects?" Harry asked, needing to get back to the investigation.

"We found her purse; everything checks out, but we found a key tucked away in her wallet that looks like it belongs to a safe deposit box. It's stamped with the bank's name."

"Good work, Chip. Cut yourself free from the cabin as soon as you can. It sounds like there's more to this story, and I want you here in Santa Barbara to help sort it out," Harry ordered, sensing that Lee was going to need all the support he could get.

"Aye Sir."

Harry hung the phone up, setting the receiver down deliberately with a great deal of self-control. He hadn't been pleased with this undercover operation from the beginning and felt that ONI had no business asking him to "marry" a woman they suspected of murder. But, he also knew that Lee was adamant to clear Rod's name and catch his murderer as well. No one could know the toll it would take on Lee, and Harry suspected they only knew part of the story. He'd just have to wait until Lee woke and was ready to talk.

He rubbed a tired hand across the back of his neck; with no word yet from Jamie he was still left in the dark concerning Lee's condition. He breathed in and expelled a cleansing breath, then picked up the phone to report to ONI.

 **VTTBOTS**

Even before he opened his eyes, Lee could feel the intrusion in his throat. His eyes popped open; his lucidity not quite catching up with his wakefulness as he momentarily panicked when he couldn't make sense of his surroundings. Several past mission-fails came to mind in bits and pieces, leaving him confused about his whereabouts just as the pain in his legs reached his awareness.

"Doctor," a soft female voice called in the background, as his eyes danced back and forth looking for something familiar; something that said he wasn't lost in enemy territory being tortured for information.

"Easy Lee," he heard as his breathing increased, until his eyes focused enough to put the face of Dr. William Jamieson together with his voice. "You're in Med Bay," Jamie assured him.

Lee tried to point to his throat in question, but found his arms weren't working properly. Thankfully, Jamie seemed to understand his movements and nodded, answering the question Lee was trying to ask.

"The neurotoxin in the snake venom shut down your breathing muscles. Don't fight the ventilator, it's breathing for you," he said, as Lee's brow tightened. "Do you understand, Lee? Blink once for yes and twice for no."

The fog cleared with Lee remembering well everything that had happened in the cabin as the disturbing images of how Lauren tried to kill him came into focus. He blinked once as Jamie smiled thinly, his concern easily read on his face.

"Good, let me assure you that your prognosis is very good, Lee. I've already administered a second dose of antivenin. It's not unusual to receive multiple doses and we just need to be patient and allow your body time to respond to the treatment. Now, one more thing, are you in pain?"

Lee was fully awake, and the pain in both of his legs was beginning to make itself known. He blinked a "yes" as Jamie nodded.

"We'll do something about that. Your broken leg is immobilized, but I don't want to cast it until the antivenin begins to release the muscle paralysis."

Lee blinked his understanding and Jamie let out a satisfied sigh that his patient was both lucid and responding. The doctor turned and issued an order for pain medication to the attending nurse, and then turned back to his patient.

"Okay, we're going to get you some relief now, Lee. Just rest and hang in there," Jamie encouraged with a hand on his shoulder.

Lee blinked and then watched as Jamie stepped away. He was exhausted and when the pain medication kicked in, he was more than happy to let it all go and lose himself in the warm, dark cocoon of unconsciousness; far from the memories of Lauren and the cabin.

 **VTTBOTS**

Harry finished his call to ONI, reporting to the naval intelligence agency what he knew thus far. An investigative team would be sent now that Lauren was dead, and they still wanted a report from Lee directly; but were guardedly relieved to hear that Lauren wasn't after Intelligence. Her motives were still very much a mystery to be solved, but now the investigation had taken a turn from a possible intelligence breach to a murder investigation. The news that there were possibly four other dead husbands indicated she had operated under a previously unknown alias. Indeed, the probable alias and the pharmaceuticals Lauren apparently had access to, indicated she was very well connected somewhere; and that was a connection they intended to investigate fully. For now, all they could do was wait for Lee to improve enough to report, and to follow whatever clues Lauren left behind in the meantime.

Harry stood, needing to pace off some of his pent-up energy. He took a couple of laps deep in thought, and was about ready to find the nearest coffee pot when Jamie walked into the waiting room.

"How is he, Jamie?" he asked, not wasting any time.

"He's stable," Jamie replied, guiding Harry to the chairs to talk. "I administered another dose of antivenin; we're waiting to see some progress there. If he doesn't respond, we'll administer another dose of M. vulvius; the blood samples reveal he was given a very potent dose of venom," he informed, stopping to pause for a disgusted breath before continuing. "In the meanwhile, we've treated his other injuries. He sustained a broken fibula and tibia of his right leg; we've immobilized his leg, but I don't want to move him for casting while the ventilator is in place. His left leg suffered from what I can only guess was an attempt to make the snake bite look authentic. The puncture marks are consistent with the forward grooved fangs of the coral snake, however, the amount of swelling and redness isn't consistent with the quantity of venom in his bloodstream. It doesn't make sense really," Jamie added, shaking his head knowingly. "The fact is, the Coral Snake isn't even indigenous to California."

"Perhaps she wasn't counting on an autopsy; with the fang marks and venom, she obviously thought no one would question the outcome," Harry postulated to Jamie's disapproving nod.

"At any rate, we've treated the wound and given him a tetanus shot. The rest of his symptoms are consistent with the symptoms of a coral snake; I'm afraid the only treatment is high doses of antivenin until the patient responds, along with antihistamines and antibiotics. Until then, he'll be on the ventilator and of course we'll be watching for complications such as serum sickness and anaphylaxis or any other allergic reactions to the antivenin."

"Are you telling me he's not out of the woods yet?" Harry inquired, needing to get past the medical jargon, which he fully understood, and straight to the prognosis.

"I believe he will respond to the treatment, but there are potential complications that go along the necessary dosage of antivenin. I'm saying that he's still in for a rough ride."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded his understanding. "I'd like to see him for a moment," he said wearily; ready to see his best friend who had come to be more like a son.

"Certainly, Admiral; he was awake briefly and was lucid enough to answer some questions for me," he replied, standing and then guiding the Admiral to the treatment room.

 **VTTBOTS**

Harry entered the room, stopping only a few steps after clearing the door to rein in his emotions. He had seen Lee in this situation before, lying on gurney surrounded by medical equipment; but the overall pallor of his face indicated a very ill young man, even after two doses of antivenin. The hypnotic rhythmic sounds of the ventilator breathing for Lee only added to the seriousness of his injuries. Harry could see the outline of the hospital splint immobilizing his leg under the warming blanket, and cringed inwardly at the thought that Lauren had maliciously inflicted the damage with the car door.

He stepped toward the gurney; Lee was unconscious, his bare torso currently sporting EKG electrodes connected to a monitor quietly beeping out the rhythm of his heartbeat. His arms lay awkwardly limp even in his unconscious state; a reminder that the muscle paralysis was still affecting his limbs. The color of his face was all wrong, his features marred slightly by the breathing tube and its apparatus positioned in his opened mouth.

Harry looked down and sighed, pursing his lips and thinking, not for the first time, that this time, ONI had asked too much of their ONI agent. Lee's physical condition was only partly on his mind; asking him to marry a suspected murderer was entirely too much to ask. The fact that Lee hadn't been able to completely detach would make the final outcome of her demise even more difficult for him. Harry knew his friend well, and he also knew that her betrayal would hit his friend hard, even though he knew it was coming.

He raised his eyes and smiled as he was greeted with the unexpected hazel eyes of Lee Crane looking back at him; though his usually vibrantly green eyes were colored more on the brown side in his current physical condition.

"Hello Lee," he greeted, amazed that the young man had again sensed someone was by his side. A small upturn of his mouth was all the answer Lee could give, but it warmed the admiral's heart to see him respond. "How are you feeling?"

Lee's awkward smile grew as he rolled his eyes to seemingly take in all the medical apparatus surrounding him, enticing a chuckle from Harry.

"I guess that was a little asinine to ask," Harry admitted, chuckling again. Lee's smile faded, as he used his eyes to point Harry to his hand, where a lone finger was moving up and down. Harry caught on quickly, placing the back of his hand under Lee's as he tapped out a message in Morse Code.

"F-i-n-e-r-e-a-l-l-y," he tapped out. Now it was Harry's turn to roll his eyes.

"I just bet," he quipped back, leaving his hand in place so they could communicate as Lee sighed noticeably.

"L-a-u-r-e-n?"

Harry's mood turned serious to match his. "She's dead, Lee."

Lee closed his eyes a moment, having needed reassurance that his memories were correct and then tapped out another message.

"K-e-e-p-d-r-e-a-m-i-n-g."

"Give it time, Lee," Harry advised. "The dreams will fade," he said, understanding from the limited information he had, that the hell his friend had endured would produce a fall-out to deal with.

Lee nodded carefully. "N-o-r-e-m-o-r-s-e," he tapped out.

"Lauren had no remorse?" Harry repeated, interpreting Lee's abbreviated message.

He blinked his answer; the beeps of the heart monitor, and hum of the ventilator filling the air as he rested a moment. Harry waited patiently, allowing his friend time to sort out the sordid details of the distasteful mission. The muscle paralysis still dictated Lee's ability to use his arm, indicated by how heavily his hand rested on Harry's; but the admiral was grateful that they were able to communicate in this fashion.

"B-l-a-c-k-w-i-d-o-w," Lee said, his tapping becoming weaker with every letter. Harry nodded, about ready to comment when he saw Lee's countenance change disturbingly.

"Are you alright, Lee?" Harry asked, concerned for the abrupt change of pallor in his face. Suddenly, Lee's eyes rolled back as his body started bucking wildly in convulsions.

"Get the doctor!" Harry yelled as he threw himself over Lee's shoulders, while the various monitors in the room began emitting emergency signals.

 **VTTBOTS**

Jamie ran back into the treatment room, assessing the situation instantly and giving instructions over his shoulder to one of the three nurses who had followed him in. He ordered more antivenin and anti-convulsion medication, while reaching for Lee's head to stabilize the ventilator tube apparatus. He leaned down close to Lee's ear and spoke calmly, as Harry fought to keep him from bucking off the table.

"Easy Lee, relax. You're going to be fine," he assured calmly as a nurse took over at his head, leaning down and whispering her own reassurance while Jamie administered the shots. A few minutes later, his body began to release and the convulsions stopped.

Harry stood upright, looking down as Lee breathed heavily through the ventilator while Jamie took his vitals. Satisfied the emergency was under control, he turned to address his patient who was, unbelievably, still conscious.

"I want you to rest now, Lee. You're exhausted."

Lee immediately blinked a "no"; his eyes disagreeing vehemently.

Jamie started to protest when he noticed Lee's finger tapping on the bed and furled his brow in question.

"We've been talking through Morse Code," Harry said, stepping back in to explain as he placed Lee's hand on his once again.

Lee was visibly relieved and Jamie nodded, understanding his patient's need to decompress from the harrowing experience before being ordered to sleep.

"Very well, Lee, but only for a short while," the doctor conceded.

Lee blinked his gratefulness as Jamie stepped away, glancing back at his patient and sighing silently. He left the room to Admiral Nelson's baritone voice speaking softly as the two continued to talk through Morse Code.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - Thanks Judithya88 for the catch, corrections made. Subjockey**

 **Chapter Nine**

"Here's something odd," Sheriff Perkins said, bringing Chip's attention to the kitchen drain board. He stopped to yell over his shoulder, "Frank, I want prints in here too."

"You got it," the forensics officer said from the other room.

"There are two coffee cups here," Perkins continued, explaining the oddity he had discovered.

"One for Lauren, and one for Lee," Chip surmised a bit perplexed at what Perkins was talking about.

"I don't think so," he said, using a ball point pen from his shirt pocket to turn both mugs around for Chip to see lipstick prints on both mugs. Chip was just about to suggest that Lauren used two mugs when he leaned down to examine the lipstick stain on the white ceramic mugs. His eyes tightened in realization and blew a breath out.

"They're two different colors," he realized as Perkins nodded in agreement.

"The personal effects in Mrs. Crane's purse were inventoried to include just one lipstick tube; so who was here beside Lauren Crane?" he asked rhetorically.

"A second woman?" Chip queried, more confused than ever. "Is there any other evidence there was more than one woman here? And if so, where is she now?"

"Frank," Perkins said, calling the forensic officer into the kitchen. "I need complete prints on both the mugs," he said pointing to the drain board. "And I'm going to want an analysis on the lipstick stains, looks like different colors to me."

Frank nodded. "Yeah, me too," he agreed and started to work as Sheriff Perkins tilted his head in an invitation for Chip to follow him outside.

Perkins turned on his flash light, sweeping it across the dirt driveway and sighed disgustedly. "There's just been too much traffic with all our coming and going," he noted, looking over the two SUV units, plus the car the Forensic Officer arrived in, along with the coroner's wagon out front of the cabin.

"You think there was another car here?" Chip asked incredulously.

"If there are two sets of finger-prints in there, then yeah, I think someone else may have been here."

"That stands to reason, but who? If there was, Lee certainly didn't have a clue," Chip replied.

"Tom," Frank called from the front porch, interrupting their conversation.

"What have you got, Frank?" Perkins said turning back to the porch with Chip beside him.

"Strangest thing; one set of clear prints on the mug with lipstick shade-one; _no_ prints on the mug with lipstick shade-two." Frank waited to let the facts sink in as Perkins nodded.

"One wore gloves; one didn't," he answered to Frank's affirming nod.

"Yeah, and did you notice?" he asked to Perkins' raised eyebrow urging him to continue. "One mug had cream residue on the bottom, the other didn't," he announced proudly, spotting another clue that the drinkers had two different tastes in coffee. "But here's the kicker," Frank continued, "the prints on the knife and along the hallway wall don't match the prints on the mug."

Perkins slapped a friendly hand on the back of the forensic officer in a job well-done fashion while issuing his next instructions.

"All right Frank, have the coroner compare Mrs. Crane's lipstick to the one in the purse as well."

"Right," Frank answered, heading over to the coroner's wagon as Perkins raised the cowboy type officer's hat from his head to wipe the brim with a handkerchief.

"This case just got a whole lot messier," he admitted.

"I agree," Chip answered, very concerned about the unexpected turn of events.

"I think we've done what we can here," Perkins decided. "Frank does good work, he'll make sure he's got all the evidence he can dredge up. I think what we need now is a court order to open that safe deposit box. Come on, Chip, let's go wake up a judge," he said as the two moved to the Sheriff's SUV determined to get to the bottom of the new mystery of just who else was in the cabin with Lauren Crane.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Nelson," Harry greeted, taking the incoming call in the privacy of Jamie's office.

"Admiral, it's Morton."

"Hello Chip, what's your ETA?" he asked, anticipating he was on his way.

"I'm afraid I can't say just yet, Sir. We've made a disturbing discovery that I need to see through."

Harry leaned over, his lips pursed with concern. "Go on."

"We believe another woman was in the cabin with Lauren."

"Another woman? What have you got?"

"Circumstantial evidence I'm afraid, but we found two coffee mugs sporting two different shades of lipstick; one coffee drinker took cream the other didn't. Only one set of prints though, one mug was clean, as if she wore gloves. Sheriff Perkins and I are heading to see a judge about a warrant to open the safe deposit box. We're hoping Lauren left some clues there, I'm pretty sure she didn't let Lee in on the fact that she had it."

"Very well, Chip; Lee believes she wasn't after Intelligence, but the possibility of another person in the cabin is indeed disturbing. ONI may not be ready to let go of the idea just yet, after all. Keep me informed."

"Aye Sir. Any change in Lee's condition?"

Harry took a deep breath in, before answering. "The venom is very toxic, he's having a rough time of it, but Jamieson assures me he will recover," he answered honestly, knowing that Chip deserved to know.

"Aye Sir, tell him to hang in there. We'll get to the bottom of this," Chip assured. Like Harry, he was better off working the problem than sitting and worrying.

"Very well," Harry replied, hanging up and thinking through the new revelation. He checked his watch, noting that it was nearing 0500 and decided to talk with Lee, before calling ONI.

 **VTTBOTS**

Harry entered the treatment room, just as Jamie stepped away from his patient. Lee looked out to the world, the ventilator was still mechanically pumping air into his lungs, but his face appeared to be completely relaxed. Jamie nodded toward the door for Harry to join him in the hall.

"Did something happen?" the admiral asked, his concern ratcheted up high.

Jamie raised a hand to dispel his apprehension. "On the contrary, I administered another dose of antivenin and I think we're finally starting to see progress. The muscle paralysis in his legs and arms is starting to release, and there's a good chance he'll be breathing on his own soon. I administered a light sedative, he'll be out for about four hours; I'll make my decision regarding the intubation and ventilator then. In the meantime, Admiral, I want you to get some rest in; I'm going to do the same. It won't do Lee any good for either of us to keel over from exhaustion," he added kindly.

Harry raised a hand to his forehead, rubbing lightly and conceding the point. "All right Jamie, I'll take the sofa in my office; call me if anything changes," he added, silently relenting to his need to sleep.

"Aye Sir," Jamie answered, recognizing the clear order in Harry's voice, then smiled weakly. "I'm very encouraged, Harry," the doctor said, breaking the formality of their ranks to speak as long-time friends.

Harry nodded, accepting the encouragement before tilting his head toward Jamie's sofa. "I expect you to follow your own orders, Doc."

"I will, Sir," he assured.

Harry headed for the door and paused, turning back to add, "We think there was someone else at the cabin, Jamie. I'm going to have to talk to Lee as soon as the ventilator is removed."

"Aye Sir, as soon as its safe," the doctor qualified to Harry's agreeing nod, before opening the door and leaving silently.

 **VTTBOTS**

Chip downed the rest of his coffee just as Sheriff Perkins exited the judge's chambers. Fortunately, they hadn't had to wake the judge after all. By the time they drove back to the sheriff's office and the necessary paperwork was finished, dawn had broken. It was a respectable 0700 when Perkins had entered the chamber, an hour later he exited with the warrant in hand.

"Got it!" he beamed proudly, "now it's just a phone call to the SBPD and the long drive to get there."

Chip broke a small smile with his eyes twinkling mischievously. "I hope you don't get air sick Tom, because you're about ready to get introduced to flying… _Seaview_ style."

Perkin's brow rose instantly. "The Flying Sub?"

Chip nodded toward the door as Sheriff Perkins sidled up next to him, barely resisting rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

 **VTTBOTS**

They had lost some time having to drive back to the airstrip, but once in the air the ride was a relatively short one. Tom had indeed, almost lost his cheese Danish when Chip executed a short take-off, steep angle of attack lift off, but managed to work through the discomfort enough to speak comfortably.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he accused jokingly.

Chip chuckled, "Sorry Tom, I'm just anxious to get to the bottom of this."

"It was fun," Tom conceded, waggling his eyebrows and allowing himself to enjoy the ride.

The short reprieve of good-natured fun quickly passed however as Chip turned contemplative, using the excuse of flying to hide his deep concern. Not being by Lee's side was extremely difficult, but he felt that this was the best way he could help his best friend. He knew that if their positions had been reversed, Lee would stop at nothing to get to the facts. They traveled at a reduced cruising speed well below Mach; even so, the amazing aircraft covered the distance in a little less than an hour.

"NIMR, this is FS-1; I'm approximately fifteen minutes out; requesting clearance for surface docking."

"Clearance granted; dock detail standing by to assist."

"Aye, FS-1 out."

Perkins leaned over, studying the horizon with a slight scowl. "What landing strip are you aiming for?"

"Don't need one," Chip replied with a side glance.

"You mean…?"

Chip smiled. "Hold on to your cookies, Tom. You're about to see why she's called a flying _sub_." With that he drastically changed the angle of attack and descended.

Chip was too busy flying to notice Perkin's white knuckles on the arm rests, and to his credit, the Sheriff managed the ride down without a sound. Once FS-1 hit the water Chip leveled her off, taking the submersible underwater until they cleared the break water before surfacing to taxi across the water to NIMR's above ground sub pen. Once they reached the dock, Chip made the necessary radio transmissions and began the shut-down routines.

"How are you doing over there?" he asked, flipping switches and turning knobs.

"Wow!" was all his passenger could say, before he started chuckling. "That was some ride!" he added enthusiastically to Chip's understanding grin.

"Glad you liked it," Chip replied, unlatching his harness and swiveling the chair around.

Perkins followed suit adding, "In the words of my eight-year-old son, 'Can we do that again?'"

Chip grinned, but it soon faded as the seriousness of their task hit once again. He headed aft, lowering the ladder and ascending to open the hatch. The deck crew was busy securing FS-1 as Chip guided Perkins toward the end of the dock, where Chief Sharkey was waiting with a car.

"She's all ready for you, Mr. Morton," Sharkey reported, regarding the NIMR car he had procured for the Exec.

"Thanks Chief, Sheriff Perkins and I will be heading out directly. Any news on Captain Crane?"

"The last I heard he's doing a whole lot better, Sir."

"Thanks Chief," he added, taking the driver's side as Perkins slid into the passenger side. "Next stop, Pac Coast Bank and Finance," he announced, making a U-Turn and heading for the security gates.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Okay Lee, cough," Jamie instructed; extubating the breathing tube from his patient's throat. "That's right, you're doing fine. Just breathe normally," he encouraged.

Lee nodded, grateful that he was breathing on his own, even though the process had exhausted his already weary body.

"Very good, Lee," he said smiling, pleased with his progress and hoping that they had averted a possible case of pneumonia since his patient was intubated for less than twenty-four hours.

A nurse stepped in and offered him water through a straw, which he took readily, offering a small smile for her help.

"Only a short visit, Admiral," Jamie instructed as Harry stepped closer to the gurney. "He needs all the rest he can get."

Harry nodded as the treatment room cleared.

"How are you feeling?" the admiral asked when they were alone.

"Better," Lee answered, his voice dry and rough.

"I know you're not really up for this, Lee, but I'm going to need some information from you."

Lee nodded and Harry continued.

"Chip and Sheriff Perkins found evidence that there was someone else at the cabin." Lee's brow tightened as Harry spoke. "We think there was a second woman there."

"I only saw Lauren," he said hoarsely. "At one point I thought I heard another woman…" Harry's mouth pursed at this new information as Lee continued, "but I thought it was just Lauren… she was playing with my mind again."

"What do you mean?" Harry hated to have this conversation just now knowing that Lee's throat was sore from the intubation, but it couldn't be helped.

"She spent a significant amount of time and effort…" he stopped to swallow as Harry waited patiently, "trying to convince me she had a split personality. She was good, Harry. I didn't believe it at first… but she had me completely snowed for a while. I actually felt sorry for her; she convinced me that she was the weaker of two personalities," he scoffed, berating himself for being fooled, "told me it was her alternate personality, Lisa, that murdered the other men. I know it sounds incredible, but I believed her until she revealed that there never was a Lisa." He stopped to swallow and take a breath, as Harry reached for the water, offering him another drink. When he was finished, he continued wearily. "She admitted that she had no other motive, but sport… she got a sick high from seducing men into marrying her and then getting away with murder seven times. She bragged that she never did it the same way twice that she had gone through three aliases."

Harry nodded. "ONI is already working on that angle, but why did she come after you with the knife when she had already envenomed you?"

"She was keeping her distance from me until the paralysis set in, I needed to get her close enough to subdue her; so, I pushed her over the edge. I told her I used her, and that the authorities were on to her." He coughed, his voice becoming rougher from overuse at this point, but he continued on, needing to talk about what happened. "It worked, but in the course of the struggle I was kicked off the bed, the next thing I know, she was leaping for me with the knife ready to plunge. I deflected her grip and rolled over on top of her, that's when she got the gut wound." Lee stopped, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Harry reached over to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Go on, Lee," he urged quietly.

He swallowed and continued. "I knew we both needed help, I told her to leave the knife alone to keep from bleeding out. I couldn't walk, so I dragged myself into the other room where she said there was a phone. Then I heard something behind me… she was coming at me with the knife… she had pulled it from her gut… blood everywhere. She was wild-eyed… a maniac even… she couldn't even walk straight, but she was determined to end me. I don't know; it was like she couldn't take _not_ succeeding. Anyway, that's when Chip came in. He gave her every chance to surrender, but she wanted me dead more. She lunged at me, and I heard a shot; I don't know where it came from. The next thing I know, she was laying there dead."

"And you're sure you never saw anyone else?"

"No one."

"And what about the second voice you heard, what did she say?"

"Something about turning me over to her and that Lauren had had me long enough. I really thought it was an interrogator, later she convinced me it was Lisa, her second personality."

Harry blew an incredulous breath out and shook his head. "This is extraordinary, Lee. I don't think I've ever heard anything like this."

"I know," he answered, "it's been hard not being able to talk about it, and I keep dreaming of her coming after me again… paralyzed and not able to defend myself."

"Give it time, Lee," he said, repeating his earlier advice.

"What now? How do find out who the other woman was and why she was there?"

"Chip and Sheriff Perkins are on their way to view the contents of the safety deposit box…"

"Sir?" Lee interrupted.

"Lauren had a safety deposit box key hidden in her purse." Lee scoffed, never having a clue that she had one as Harry continued. "We're hoping she left clues for us to follow. In the meanwhile, the forensics team is going over the cabin with a fine-toothed comb. We have Lauren's prints on file; we've already sent them over to the crime lab up north. Hopefully, they can find another set of prints for us to work with. At any rate, we have to consider the possibility that she lied to you about her motives."

"It doesn't add up, Harry. She thought she had the upper hand on me, there was no reason to lie to me when she believed that I would be dead soon."

"I don't know, Lee, but until we can prove who the second woman was, we can't be sure she didn't have another motive."

Lee nodded wearily, silently cursing the fact that with everything he'd gone through, he still hadn't been able to clear Rod's name.

"I think you'd better rest now, Lee. I promise I'll keep you up to date on the investigation. Right now, the most important thing is your recovery," Harry admonished gently.

"Aye Sir," he replied, allowing his eyes to close to avoid eye contact with Harry; he was more than disappointed in himself for letting Rod down.

 **VTTBOTS**

A Detective from the Santa Barbara Police Department accompanied Sheriff Perkins and Chip since they were out of Perkin's jurisdiction. Once the bank manager examined the warrant, she produced the safety deposit box. Both Chip and Tom wore rubber gloves to preserve potential finger prints, and opened the box carefully.

"Whew," Perkins said with a whistle at the wad of one hundred dollar bills they pulled out first. "That's a lot of traveling cash," he noted, placing it into the plastic evidence bag. Underneath, they found three passports, along with old driver's licenses from different states under different names.

"That should help find the aliases," Chip noted, thumbing through the driver's licenses and noting that she had a passport to match each driver's license. "It looks like she was ready to leave the country in a hurry."

Perkins continued working down the pile, finding deeds to various properties, all owned free and clear and all under the same name, an obvious alias. He thumbed through them, dropping one in particular on the table in front of Chip.

"Recognize that one?" he asked rhetorically.

Chip nodded; it was the deed to the cabin, under the name Lisa Davenport.

"There's some pictures down here," Perkins said, "recognize any of them?"

He placed them on the table one by one, each was picture of Lauren with a different man. He didn't recognize the first two pictures, but leaned over as soon as Tom laid down the third one.

"That's Rod, her husband before Lee."

Perkins nodded, he had two more pictures in his hand, but interrupted the process when he saw some odds and ends at the bottom of the box, one of which was another safety deposit box key to another bank. He picked it up. "More evidence I'd guess."

"I think you're right," Chip agreed, as Tom placed it in yet another evidence bag held out by the SBPD Detective.

Perkins laid down another picture in front of Chip, this one was with Lee. He was lost in thought, considering just how close his best friend had come to becoming another victim of the black widow. He shook off the unpleasant thought, turning his attention to Perkins who was examining the last picture while swearing under his breath.

"What is it, Tom?" Chip asked, his brow furrowed in question.

Tom dropped the last picture onto the table for Chip to see. "Did you know about this?"

"No," Chip answered, pursing his bottom lip. "And I know Lee didn't either."

"This adds a whole new wrinkle," Perkins added.

"That's an understatement," Chip deadpanned, as the two shocked men took in the realization that Lauren Crane had an identical twin sister.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Chip and Tom closed the car doors and sat a moment, taking in the latest revelations: there was yet another safety deposit box to examine; and Lauren Crane had an identical twin sister.

"What do you think?" Chip asked, "I mean, what's the likelihood that Lauren's sister is involved?"

"Who knows? There's certainly nothing to implicate her specifically. I mean, you can't pick your relatives," Tom replied.

"I guess you're right."

"On the other hand, this case has been one surprise after another. I'd say we need to locate this other sister, and find out what she knows of Lauren Crane's deeds. I've always heard that twins are very close."

Chip nodded.

"We'd also better get on that other safety deposit box," Perkins noted.

"It's in San Diego, I'll give Admiral Nelson a call; he'll get ONI working on the warrant."

They were just about to discuss another flying sub ride when Chip's SAT phone rang.

"Morton," he answered, "Yes, he's right here; patch it through," he said, handing the phone to his passenger. "It's for you."

"Sheriff Perkins… yeah… yeah… A bombshell? Wait a minute," Tom lowered the phone examining the keypad. "Can we put this on speaker?"

"Yeah, sure," Chip replied, pressing the button for him.

"Okay Frank, I've got Commander Morton here with me. Bring him up to speed and then drop that bombshell you were talking about."

 **VTTBOTS**

Lee was exhausted. The conversation with Harry had been draining; even so, he had needed that talk. He was hurting on so many levels he couldn't hardly process it. He had closed his eyes to lament privately, and before he knew it had fallen to sleep. He had no idea how long he'd been out, but when he woke the lights had been dimmed. He figured he could thank Jamie for that and smiled slightly, then sighed at how good it felt to be free of the ventilator and breathing tube. His muscles were still sluggish, but at least he could move his limbs a little now, of course that was hampered by the new cast he now sported on his right elevated leg.

He had told Harry that he felt "better", but better was most definitely _relative_. Both legs were still injured and he was still quite ill despite his progress. Jamie had said he could expect a week-long stay in Med Bay. Though he wasn't looking forward to that, he _was_ looking forward to feeling better. He didn't know how long it would be before he felt "fine"; he figured that would depend on how long the dreams held on and whether his undercover work for the last three months would actually clear Rod's name. And then there was Lauren. He'd never had a woman die at his hand before; he knew she was a cold-blooded killer, but something in him still felt remorse that during their struggle she had fallen on the knife. Technically, it was the Sheriff's bullet that killed her, but he knew that the chances of survival were slim with the amount of blood she had lost.

Lee sighed loudly. He knew he wasn't thinking straight; it had been a life or death struggle, and she had come at him like a woman possessed. He had defended himself against a woman who had admittedly killed seven other men. He unballed the fist he had unconsciously made, figuring his illness was playing havoc with his emotions and decided to give it rest.

The door opened and light filtered in briefly as Lee spotted the duty nurse; no doubt coming to poke, prod, or do some other medical mischief and closed his eyes to rest. He was about to drift back to sleep when he heard her call to him.

"Lee…"

His eyes popped open in shock, recognizing her voice immediately; even with the dimmed room and a blond wig, he knew it was her.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Okay, so here it goes," Frank started, "the prints on the mug belong to Mrs. Crane; this was verified by the prints the Nelson Institute sent over to make a positive ID on the body, and the lipstick shade in her purse was a match as well, by the way."

"That makes sense," Perkins interjected. "I mean why would Mrs. Crane make coffee with gloves on?"

"Yeah, I agree. So, are you ready for the bombshell?"

Perkins motioned with his hand, even though Frank couldn't see it. "Go on," he urged impatiently.

"The dead woman's prints don't match the prints sent over from the Nelson Institute; _or_ the knife, _or_ the blood trail on the wall for that matter," he said picking up speed and emphasizing each phrase before pausing dramatically before finishing, "The dead woman _isn't_ Lauren Crane."

"Say that again, Frank," Perkins said, leaning forward.

"Either the prints from the Nelson Institute are wrong… or that _wasn't_ Mrs. Crane we loaded into the Coroner's wagon."

Perkins looked to Chip for clarification.

"Lee obtained those prints himself; he brought them in on a drinking glass from breakfast the same morning."

Perkins sat back and sighed. "Now we know where her twin sister is."

"What was that?" Frank asked.

"We just found out that Lauren Crane had an identical twin sister."

"The question is: ' _Where_ is Lauren Crane?'" Chip asked urgently.

"Anything else, Frank?" Perkins inquired hastily, knowing they had another call to make, the sooner the better.

"That's it."

"Okay, we've got to jump on this. Talk to you later, and good work."

He hung up, not even waiting for a reply, handing the phone to Chip who quickly dialed Admiral Nelson's private number. The phone rang without an answer; frustrated he hung up and dialed again, this time reaching the switch board. "Trish, this is Chip, connect me to Med Bay right away!"

 **VTTBOTS**

"Hello Darling," Lauren said, pulling the blond wig from her head to expose her familiar brunette hair.

"But... you're… dead," he breathed out trying to make sense of the situation, while trying to rein in the natural fear any man would feel when his dead wife showed up in his hospital room, especially one who was still working through envenomation by a very toxic snake.

"No, you killed Lisa... you bastard," she accused her eyes full of fire and sporting the same unbalanced look as when she came after him with a knife in the cabin.

"So, you had a twin," he stated, as everything came together quickly; his mind was clear, his initial shock reined in, and understanding completely that he wasn't looking at a ghost. "But why?" he asked, knowing full well she wasn't innocent; she had seduced and lured her husbands right into her homicidal maniac sister's hands.

"We did everything together, Lee. You can't understand that can you, being an only child? And I do mean _everything_ ," she said smiling lewdly, intimating that "sharing" included even intimacy with her husbands.

Her last statement was rendered so callously that Lee realized that Lauren was as unstable as her sister, and wondered how she could hold it together for three months without him ever seeing it.

"So, she seduced your would-be husbands, and you married them, and then lured them back to her to murder?"

"Almost," she said way too calmly, sliding her hand into the pocket of her white nurse's uniform. "Actually, we took turns… it was Lisa's turn to finish you off."

"You've got to be kidding?" he breathed out at both the seriousness and the lack of remorse she had delivered the last statement with. "You haven't answered why? Lisa said you didn't care about sensitive information from the officers," he needed this clarified in order to clear Rod and the other men.

"You men think you're so important with all your little secrets," she mocked, repeating almost exactly what Lisa had told him. "The real power is in life and death," she stated coldly. "And every time we got away with it, it made us stronger," she said with an incredibly disturbed, if not evil countenance.

"So, Lisa told me the truth… you killed for sport."

She chuckled deviously. "The conquest was the high; gaining your love and trust only to watch you big strong men die at the hands of the "weaker" sex was the pinnacle of that high. Only now… now, I'm all alone," she added sorrowfully her eyes lowering momentarily, before raising them again filled with rage. "I'm going to finish the job, Lee," she said, pulling a syringe from her pocket. "This is for Lisa."

Lee knew he had to act fast, he only hoped she was willing to listen.

"I told Lisa my secrets before she died, don't you want to know them too?" he asked, hoping to throw her off balance. "Don't you want to know what mistake she made and just how she died?" he added as her eyes grew darker. She didn't answer, but he proceeded on anyway. "The authorities were on to you, Lauren, and they enlisted me to play your husband. I only married you to trap a murderer." He let that hang a moment before continuing with the line that had driven Lisa over the edge. "I _used_ you, just like you used Rod and all the other men. I never loved you, Lauren. You may have thought you fooled me with your lies for three months, but you never saw it coming. You never knew that I was using you to catch a Black Widow."

Her breathing increased, her eyes filled with hatred. "You loved me… you're lying," she said, the idea that her love could be rejected more distasteful than the idea of killing her mates for sport.

"I used you for a conviction… nothing else!" he yelled back.

"You made love to me…"

"I played the game, just like you did!" he taunted, needing her to make a mistake. He was pretty sure he could subdue her at this point, but what he didn't need was for her to make a run for it. He could subdue her long enough to ring the nurses station, but he had two bum legs and he wasn't up for a chase through the hospital halls. So, he needed her to commit to using the syringe so that she would come close enough for him to grab her. Furthermore, he couldn't afford to press the Call button yet, the last thing he needed was for a nurse to walk in unexpectedly. He was fully aware that, like her sister, Lauren was capable of killing anyone who got in her way.

"We let you live too long, Lee," she stated hatefully, taking a step toward him, but before he could grab her the door opened.

"Lauren!"

She turned sharply and away from the gurney to face Admiral Nelson in the doorway with several base security guards standing behind him, with obvious orders to hang back until he had assessed the situation.

"It's over," he said resolutely.

"You don't understand!" she screamed, aiming the syringe toward her own forearm.

"No Lauren!" Lee yelled, sitting up on an elbow, but unable to muster the strength to move any further, especially with his leg laden in a cast.

"I loved you, Lee," she said returning her countenance to the "loving wife" she had played for three months. "And now, one of us has to die," she finished as if it all made perfect sense, then plunged the needle into her arm and depressed the contents into her flesh.

Harry started for her, but she held the syringe out like a knife.

"Stay back! There's still enough in here to take you out with me!" she threatened.

Harry stopped in his tracks; Lee was still too close to her and in a precarious position if what she said was true. He held both hands up in front of him to ease her concerns.

"Let us help you, Lauren," he bargained.

"Why couldn't you have left us alone?" she questioned pitifully, ignoring the sweat beading on her forehead. "We never hurt anyone."

"You and your sister _killed_ seven men," Harry countered, disputing her claim.

She shook her head weakly, her breathing becoming shallower. "But we loved them," she explained, tilting her head and urging Harry to understand. "You know I loved you, Lee," she said, turning toward him and looking increasingly mentally disturbed, still holding the syringe dripping with whatever poison she had originally prepared for Lee.

"Then why did they have to die?" Harry asked, taking a step closer, and hoping to throw her off-base with the paradox of her actions.

"Because," she said, as if everyone ought to understand the next words out of her mouth, "once I loved them, I have to let them go... before they betray me."

"You _murdered_ Rod," Lee contradicted, "you _never_ loved him, and I doubt very seriously you ever loved anyone in your life."

"We don't need love," she countered, speaking as if Lisa were still alive, swaying slightly and then thrusting the syringe toward Harry when he tried to take a step toward her. "Lisa and I are conquerors; we take what we want…" she said airily, stopping to catch her breath before continuing. "Did you hear that father?" she yelled to the air. "Nothing we did was ever good enough for you… you were always disappointed in us, but who's laughing now? We made more money than your precious Roger ever did!" she yelled, thrusting the syringe wildly in the air. "So, you see, Lee," she said moving from her raving mad discourse back to speaking calmly, "we offered our love and it was trampled on."

"Rod adored you," Lee countered.

"No, you men always lie… you're not worthy of our love; and so, we have to move on to someone else," she said in almost a whisper looking Lee deeply in the eyes. "And that's why," she said breathily, "you have to die, Lee," she finished lunging forward with the syringe ready to strike.

Harry saw his chance and stepped in, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her hand away, holding it at arm's length as security followed him in, freeing the syringe from her hand. They had no more than secured the poisonous needle when she began to convulse in Harry's arms. He laid her on the floor as Jamie, who had been held at bay until the room was secure, barreled in to care for the new patient.

"What was in the syringe?" he yelled.

"I don't know," Harry answered as Lee watched from the gurney, almost a bystander in this latest turn of events, a cruel twist that left him shocked, confused and weary.

Jamie was busy ordering anti-convulsion medication when all of the sudden her wild bucking ceased and she froze for a moment with her body arched forward. Then she expelled her last breath and her muscles released her arched back, as she fell dead to the floor. Her eyes were still open, staring toward Lee as Jamie worked to revive her. After a few minutes he sat back and sighed.

"She's dead," he said.

Lee fell back onto the gurney, closing his eyes as the shock of watching his wife die twice in as many days assaulted him, as Jamie's attention shifted back to his extremely ill patient.

"Nurse, post the time of death and have the orderlies remove the body," he said, moving quickly to the gurney. "Lee, are you, all right?"

He swallowed and nodded. "I'm okay, Jamie," he breathed out before turning his head toward Harry, who had taken position on the opposite side. "Did you hear, Sir? Not after Intelligence… just two homicidal maniacs," he said angrily.

"I heard, Lee. You did it, Lad, you cleared Rod's name and you stopped them from ever killing again."

Lee nodded weakly, and swallowed; the extremes of her emotions and paradoxical reasons for killing the men she purported to love were almost too overwhelming to take in all at once.

"How did you know she was here?" he asked when it suddenly dawned on him that Harry had appeared out of nowhere.

"Chip's been on the investigative trail with the Sheriff since the cabin. When he discovered that Lauren had a twin, I knew she'd come after you."

"They were raving mad, Harry… I lost track of how many reasons _why_ she said they did it," he said confused. "And I swear… I could see both her and Lisa when she talked… like their personalities were almost shared…" he said, shaking his head when he couldn't quite articulate what he meant.

"Lee," Jamie interrupted, "I need for you to sleep now; I'm going to give you a sedative…"

"Jamie…" he started to protest.

"You're exhausted, Lee, and the release of adrenaline may stir back up the toxins," he explained, injecting the sedative as he spoke and invoking his medical rank in the matter.

Lee was too tired to fight; he was emotionally drained and his body was giving out anyway. So, he gave up and accepted Jamie's care without further protest.

 **VTTBOTS**

Chip ran through the Med Bay with Sheriff Perkins following close behind. He arrived at Lee's room just in time to see a body being rolled out on a gurney. He heard Lee's voice inside the room and knew he was safe; still he reached for the sheet, pulling it back to see the dead body of Lauren Crane. He exchanged a glance with Perkins and then entered the room, just as Jamie stepped away.

A small smile and a nod from Jamieson told him that Lee was okay as he stepped up to the gurney, while Tom stayed back to give them privacy.

"Hey Lee," he said quietly.

Lee opened his eyes to the greeting, barely hanging onto consciousness before the sedative took him completely.

"Hey Chip… thanks…" he said before his eyes closed and he lost the battle to stay awake.

Chip stared down at his friend a moment, taking in the close call that Lee Crane had endured once again at ONI's behest. "How is he, Sir?" he asked, finding his voice and having not seen Lee since the Medevac.

"He's going to be all right, Chip," he answered, looking down at his battle-worn friend and nodding to himself. "I think he's going to be all right."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Lee woke taking in the change of scenery and feeling incredibly clear headed. He was no longer in the treatment room, and was now situated in a comfortable private room. The shades were open and he had a view of the ocean from his bed. He laid serenely for a moment, remembering the entire ordeal, but feeling oddly at peace.

He stopped to take stock of his physical condition, noting his left leg was wrapped, but comfortable. His right leg felt heavy in the cast, but he was no longer in pain. He also happily noted that the symptoms of the venom were no longer plaguing him. His stomach was sore, but the heavy cramps were absent as was the headache and swelling in his throat. He took a deep breath in, fully inflating his lungs and marveled again at how good it felt to breathe without the ventilator. Next, he tested his limbs, smiling to see that he had full movement available to him. He still felt weak, but knew he was on his way to recovery now.

He reached for the nurse's call button, curious what day it was and just how long he'd been out to wake up feeling this good. He didn't have long to wait before Jamie arrived in the room, smiling contently at his patient.

"It's good to see you awake, Lee," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Better… I mean really, _really_ , better," he qualified, emphasizing the adverb adequately. "So much better that I have to ask how many days I lost?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Three days," Jamie replied, reaching for the bed controls. "Let's get you into a sitting position, careful, you may be a little dizzy at the movement," he cautioned, raising the head of the bed to a comfortable thirty-degree angle.

Lee closed his eyes, indeed feeling a little dizzy at the movement after having spent so much time flat on his back. He recovered quickly and found Jamie's eyes to get the rest of the story.

"That must have been some powerful sleep juice you gave me," he said, not quite accusingly, but he was curious.

"Nothing quite so devious; the fact is, the adrenaline did stir back up the venom toxins. The next time you woke you were delirious; it took two more rounds of antivenin to finally get the upper hand on the toxin. By that time, you were clinically exhausted. You slept for 28 hours straight with very little help from me, I might add," he said with a small smile.

"Sounds like it might be a good thing I don't remember those three days," he replied with a hint of concern. "That's a lot of antivenin, Jamie."

"The coral snake is of the elapid family of snakes, which means its venom is some of the most toxic in the world. That fact is countered by its envenomation system that delivers its venom far less efficiently than say, the rattlesnake whose venom is less toxic, but doses out far more venom in its strike. Lauren apparently made up for that giving you a far greater dose than you would have received from an actual snake bite," Jamie explained, pausing and waiting for an indication of Lee's emotional state at the mention of the psychotic woman who had tried to kill him.

Lee sighed, recognizing the doctor's test of his emotional well-being. "Smooth, Jamie. So, to answer your unspoken question; I'm fine. I really am. The fall-out is to be expected, but the fact is, we stopped not one, but _two_ cold-blooded killers; and Rod's name has been cleared. That's what I signed up for; the rest will work itself out."

Jamieson sighed and nodded, accepting his answer; at least until he got Harry's take on the matter. "I made a call before I came in; so, you should be expecting visitors soon," he informed, changing the subject and moving on. "In the meanwhile, would you like to freshen up before they arrive?"

Lee nodded gratefully. "Yes, definitely," he said. He was only sporting an IV at this point, and was relieved to be free of the EKG; as well as the other monitors that had surrounded him the last time he was awake.

"Good," Jamie replied, removing the IV tube from the port and lowering the bedrail, then retrieving a robe for his patient. "Now, slow and easy are the words of the day. You've been on your back for almost five days now and you're going to be weak," he cautioned.

Lee nodded, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, then waited a moment for the world to stop spinning before reaching for the robe and standing cautiously. He took a deep breath, definitely feeling his weak muscles, but nodded that he was ready to proceed as Jamie took to his side to offer a supporting arm.

Lee made it to the private bathroom, feeling much steadier and stronger with each step and stopped as he reached the door.

"I can handle it from here, Jamie," he assured the doctor. "Okay if I take a shower?"

"Fine Lee, use the Call button inside if you need any help," Jamie replied dutifully, but knowing from experience that his oft-patient was well able to handle things at this point.

Lee appreciated the vote of confidence and nodded, before closing the door behind him.

 **VTTBOTS**

He was back in bed with freshly changed linens and resting comfortably before his "guests" arrived; he figured Jamie had fended them off long enough for him get presentable; which he appreciated greatly.

"Hello Lee," Harry greeted followed quickly by Chip's, "Hey there, buddy."

"Hi," he replied; tired from his excursion out of bed, but feeling much better for the trouble and grateful to see his two best friends again.

"It's good to see you looking so well," Harry complimented, clearly pleased with his improvements.

"Jamie tells me I lost three days," he shook his head and chuckled. "I don't remember them at all."

"Just as well," Chip jumped in. "You had us pretty worried."

"Yeah… well Lauren and her sister did a pretty effective job on me."

"Are you ready to talk about it?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Definitely, and I'd really like to be brought up to speed on the investigation. It _is_ still ongoing, isn't it?" Lee asked, suddenly concerned that the matter had been dropped now that he had proven there was no compromise of national security secrets.

"It's still ongoing," Harry assured him, "in fact, Sheriff Perkins drove down today when Jamie indicated yesterday you'd be waking soon. He's outside now if you're up for a visit and a first-hand report."

"Of course," Lee replied.

Harry nodded toward Chip, who left to invite the Sheriff in as the admiral avoided getting into any heavy conversation until they returned, which was only moments later.

"Lee, this is Sheriff Perkins."

"I remember," Lee said, extending his hand for Tom to shake. "You saved my life at the cabin. Thanks, Sheriff," he replied gratefully.

"First off, it's Tom," he said during the shake, before continuing. "It was my pleasure, I only wished we had gotten to you sooner," the Sheriff replied apologetically.

"You got there in time, that's the only thing that matters," he replied graciously. "Besides, I was still gaining information, pretty much right up until she came after me with the knife."

Tom smiled politely and let it go, but silently remembered jokingly describing Crane having a hero-complex and realized just how true that was; the man had nerves of steel he silently complimented.

"I've been busy interviewing all concerned," Harry said, setting the tone for the debriefing he knew Lee was after; having Sheriff Perkins here would make it all the easier since he was a major player in the investigation that broke the case wide-open. "Between what you reported and what I heard Lauren say for myself, ONI is satisfied with your conclusion that no sensitive information was sought after, gained, or redistributed." Lee nodded, that fact was abundantly clear to him. "ONI is expecting your full report at your earliest convenience, which I told them wouldn't be for at least a week," he added, demonstrating that his retired "stars" still carried plenty of weight in Washington. "The military has now turned its attention to the murder of its officers as a criminal investigation; ONI is investigating in conjunction with the civil authorities since evidence of civilian victims has been substantiated," he stated matter-of-factly, explaining Sheriff Perkins' ongoing involvement in the case.

"So, she _was_ telling the truth; there _were_ more husbands?" Lee inquired solemnly, his eyes tightening at the thought.

"I'm afraid so. Chip, why don't you bring Lee up to speed from the time you returned to the cabin."

Chip nodded and began. "We were about ready to wrap it up at the cabin when Tom and his evidence team found several important clues; the first was a safety deposit box key in a secret pocket in Lauren's purse," Lee raised his eyebrow, he vaguely remembered Harry mentioning a safety deposit box when he first came into Med Bay. "The second was evidence to believe that there had been a second woman at the cabin. We had no reason to suspect that the body wasn't Lauren's, so we headed out to deal with the safety deposit box. Tom secured the necessary search warrant, and we flew into town to check out the box. That's where it got strange," he added, nodding toward Tom to take over.

Tom handed Lee a report with the evidence found in the box and continued with the briefing.

"We found a wad of cash; $35,000 to be exact, along with three different passports…"

"Her escape route well-planned if she got caught," Lee interjected, stating the obvious in disgust.

Tom acknowledged with a nod and continued. "There were also some pictures."

Lee's brow rose, as Chip took over.

"They turned out to be Lauren with each of her previous three husbands… and there was one with you."

"Something to remember us by," he added sarcastically.

"Yeah," Chip agreed just as disgusted as his best friend. "And then there was another picture, that's when we discovered that Lauren had a twin sister."

"There were some odds and ends at the bottom of the box; memorabilia, we're guessing, from each of the marriages and three deeds of land, including the cabin where we found you. Owned free and clear, by someone named Lisa Davenport," Tom continued.

Lee reacted with a furled brow, "Is that a clue to her real last name?"

"Yes, we've since discovered that the land was owned by her sister Lisa, under her real name. We found a rental agreement at the cabin, apparently building the alibi that you two were taking a little weekend getaway; she even stocked the kitchen to keep up the ruse," Tom replied.

"Yeah," Lee agreed, "she told me that the snake bite would make perfect sense in the woods. So, was that all there was in the box?" he asked, knowing there had to be more for Chip to connect the dots fast enough to call Harry in time to save his six in the hospital.

"No, there was more, another safety deposit box key; this one was in San Diego," Tom clarified.

"We decided to let ONI chase that rabbit," Chip joined in, "and that's when Tom's people broke open the case."

Lee urged them on, keenly interested in having the blanks filled in, as Tom picked the story back up.

"My evidence man requested prints from the Nelson Institute since you, as the next of kin, were unavailable, that's when we discovered that the dead woman at the cabin wasn't Lauren Crane."

"We put two and two together and called the Admiral," Chip added.

"You're timing was impeccable," Lee complimented with a small grin, knowing that although he had had a plan to subdue her, he was still operating from a very physically compromised position.

"That brings us back to the hospital room. Do you remember everything that went on there?" Harry asked, taking over the briefing.

"Everything's crystal clear. I was obviously in shock when I opened my eyes to see her. I knew who she was even before she took off the wig. She told me that I had killed Lisa, and I put the rest together to figure she had a twin sister."

Everyone nodded, having already been informed by Harry about Lauren's cruel game, pretending to have a split personality named Lisa.

"She admitted that she and Lisa took turns doing away with the husbands… among other things," he stated cryptically, there was no way he was going to go into her admitting that somewhere along the line Lisa had enjoyed his marriage bed. That one was too private to address here with Tom present, so he moved on. "Anyway, I pushed her again about the Intelligence, and her answer was almost exactly what Lisa told me in the cabin; they could care less about secrets and intelligence. They were in it for the kicks," he stated with a cool disdain that was palpable to everyone in the room. "I was trying to push her over the edge, like I did Lisa, so I could subdue her. I told her the authorities were onto her, and that I used her; I got the same reaction I got from Lisa. She could take killing her husbands without an ounce of remorse, but she couldn't take being used by a man. She started for me, which is what I was going for; I couldn't chance a nurse coming in and getting inadvertently pulled into this. That's when you came in, Admiral."

Harry nodded; having already shared what he had witnessed among the rest of the room during the course of the last three days.

"So, did ONI get access to the other box?" Lee asked.

"Yes," Harry answered solemnly. "Filled with evidence of the other four husbands she had seduced, married, and killed."

Lee blew a breath out, soaking in the vindication of his sacrifice of the last three months with this new information. "Was there any indication of how she and Lisa became cold-blooded murderers?"

"Naval Investigators are still wading through it," Harry continued, "but do you remember her saying something about her father not thinking they were good enough?"

"Yes, and that they had made more money than…" he faltered for the name, not quite able to recall it.

"Roger," Harry said, supplying the missing name to Lee's nod of remembrance. "It turns out that Lisa and Lauren have a brother, a very _normal_ brother I might add. Their family lost track of the twins after their father died and the family business was left solely to Roger."

"Yeah, they both made it very clear that they hated men in general," Lee added, exchanging eye contact with Chip and Tom, who were both shaking their heads at this point.

"The profilers are saying that was at least one motive that led to their killing spree," Harry added.

"Honestly Admiral, they both gave me so many different reasons, I don't know which one is true."

"They all may be true, Lee. You see, the reason Roger inherited the business was because Lisa and Lauren had already shown mental instability. They were in no means cut out of the will, but they felt slighted regarding the family business. Roger was interviewed only yesterday, and he said that Lisa and Lauren would often play games with the family, switching identities for no apparent gain. He said in no uncertain terms, that some of those games were downright disturbing. At this point, the profilers can only speculate, but they believe that both women may have been schizophrenic. They may have had as many motives as personalities, Lee," Harry speculated.

Lee sat a moment without saying anything, not sure he wanted to bear his soul in front of Tom, but spoke anyway.

"I can't feel sorry for them, Admiral, as many times as she acted like a lost girl begging me to help, I can't forget how easy it was for them to lie. She knew how to get to the men in her life, and they both moved in and out of those lies way too easily. If you could have seen Lisa going back forth between her Lauren and Lisa personalities you would know what I mean." Lee rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I don't even know if it matters now, whether it was a mental illness or not; but, I do know that I saw the eyes of a cold-blooded killer up close… _twice_ ," he said. "There was evil in those eyes, Admiral, and you know that I know what that looks like," he added, referring to his ONI career as a part-time field-op.

"I understand, Lee; you were closer to her than anyone at this point, and the only surviving husband; so, your opinion ranks high in this," Harry assured him.

Lee nodded, ready to move on and regretting letting all this get to him in front of Perkins. "There's a couple of things I'm curious about," he said, deliberately moving on. "How did she make it past the gate to gain entrance into Med Bay?"

"The most likely way was in the trunk of one of the cars; there was a shift change at Med Bay only 45 minutes before we found her in your room."

"I guess we're fortunate she didn't injure anyone else trying to get to me," Lee pondered thoughtfully, the weight of being stalked by a psychopath not so easily shaken.

"For what it's worth, Commander," Sheriff Perkins jumped in, going formal to emphasize his point. "I saw the same eyes you did. And I knew without a doubt that if I didn't hit my mark, she would have killed you without hesitation."

Lee nodded in appreciation of Tom's support.

The mood in the room was heavy, until Harry spoke again. "You said there were a couple things you were curious about, Lee."

"What was in the syringe?" he stated flatly, knowing that whatever it was, it was deadly and worked fast.

"Another venom, and like the snake venom she used on you, it was highly concentrated." Lee's brow tightened as Harry paused a moment before continuing, "black widow venom," he stated flatly.

Lee sunk deeper into his pillow, struck by the irony of it all. "Forgive me if I sound callous," he said, "but it's rather ironic that she died from her own venom."

"You're entitled to feel that way, Lee," Chip offered sincerely. "In fact, I'm right there with you."

They locked eyes for a moment, before Lee cracked a small apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry for being so broody, I just haven't had a chance to talk about it and it's all pretty fresh," he admitted.

"No apologies needed, Lee," Harry admonished immediately. "No one could have expected any of this when they asked you take on this assignment."

"At any rate, I owe each of you my life. Thanks for covering my six; and thanks, on behalf of Rod and the other men. Now, at least the truth is known. I told Jamie that's what I signed up for; the rest will work itself out."

There wasn't much more to be said after that, and Chip sensed it was time to give Lee some space, so he retreated to what he knew Lee needed right now.

"Well, now that you're not at death's door any longer, I expect you'll be hungry for some real food. I'll try to sneak in something edible the next time I come by," he joked.

"That sounds good about now," Lee said, appreciating the change of tone as he reached for another handshake from Sheriff Perkins.

"Tom, thanks again for everything you did, _and_ for putting up with my Exec here in my absence," he quipped.

"You're welcome, and anytime you get tired of Morton here, just send him my way. I've got some cold-cases he can work on," he jokingly returned.

"Thanks, but I think we'll keep him around, at least until the computer upgrades are done on Seaview," he teased.

"Keep it up, Buddy, and I'll leave you to the mercy of mashed potatoes and Jell-O," Chip deadpanned.

They all chuckled comfortably as Chip escorted Tom out of the room. Harry hung back, waiting for the door to close completely before he moved closer to Lee's bed.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked candidly.

"I'm all right, Admiral. It was bizarre, and I can't say I'm looking forward to going home." His admission surprised Harry, his forehead furling in response as Lee continued. "I lived three months with a homicidal maniac… her things are still there…" his words dropped off as his eyes drifted away.

"Were you in love with her, Lee?" Harry asked point blank.

Lee raised his eyes to meet Harry's and sighed. "I was starting to feel something," he admitted, "but my head was still screwed on straight enough to know, that at the very least, she had betrayed Rod by coming on to me. And once she started derailing my 'recovery' I knew we were on the right track. I think I'm being honest with myself when I say that I wasn't in love with her. But I was married to a serial killer, Harry," he said, hardly able to believe the absurdity of the situation.

"Well, you know as well I do, that the marriage was performed by an ONI Agent. The marriage was never certified, and that you were _never_ legally married," Harry reminded him, something that had been worked out from the very beginning of the well-planned operation.

"Yeah," Lee said, smiling weakly, and knowing that he had Harry to thank for that; the Admiral had, in fact, insisted upon it. "Do me a favor, Harry… ask Chip to do a purge for me throughout the house. He might not get everything, but I'd appreciate not having to walk into the house with all her stuff staring back at me."

Harry nodded, he knew Naval Investigation had already been through the house looking for evidence, but the house was still full of reminders of the sham marriage. "We'll _both_ take care of it, Lee," he promised.

"Thanks, and I'm good, Harry," Lee assured his good friend. "I don't intend on doing anything drastic like selling the house, or anything. I'm just not used to my missions being so personal. I'll work through it."

"Understood," he replied, looking for and finding strength in Lee's eyes, and confident that his captain would indeed work through the fall-out of the highly personal mission. "Get some rest, Lee; Seaview needs her captain back at her helm."

Lee sighed, almost forgetting what it was like after three long months. "I've missed her," he sighed, wistfully wishing he was on her Front Porch right now, watching the ocean press against her magnificent windows.

Harry gave his leg a paternal pat and stepped away; leaving Lee to the privacy he no doubt needed after the emotional briefing.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Lee stood at the grave, his service cap in hand and his head bowed. He wasn't here to mourn the Widow, he had in fact, not attended the burials of Lauren and Lisa Davenport. Her estranged family had chosen only a small private graveside gathering; the duty of burying family members guilty of seven murders a difficult one to bear. Roger Davenport had extended his thanks to Lee for his part in bringing Lauren and Lisa's deeds to an end, and had assured him that he and his mother held no ill-will towards him. He had gone as far as to say that the family had for years wondered about the sudden death of his father. Exhuming the body after so many years wasn't an option, and with the twins now dead, there wasn't much to be gained. He appreciated Roger Davenport reaching out to him, and their short meeting had helped him find some measure of closure.

Today he had returned to Rod's grave in San Diego to pay his respects and say a few words to his long-time friend.

"I'm sorry it turned out like this, Rod. You asked me to take care of Lauren, but you had no idea what she was. I know you'll forgive me for what I had to do to clear your name and to stop them from ever doing it again," he said quietly, remembering what Chip had said about marrying his friend's wife when he was barely cold in the grave. "I'm just here to say 'Good-bye, Buddy'," he said, finally feeling he could properly mourn his friend.

He stepped away ready to put the mission in the past and move on. He knew Rod would want that too, and now that he was fully recovered from the ordeal he could devote himself to the life he loved so much aboard Seaview. He squared his service cap and walked back to the car where Chip was waiting, leaning against the door with his arms folded casually in front of him.

"You okay?" the blond asked quietly.

"Yeah, I just needed to say a few things."

Chip nodded, rounding the car and getting into the driver's side, while Lee took the passenger seat.

"So, do you want to grab something to eat before we fly back," Chip asked, wondering which direction he should drive, towards town and the restaurants or toward the dock where FS-1 was docked.

"You know what I'd really like?" Lee asked with a small grin.

"What?"

"Let's get back home, order a pizza, and have dinner on the Front Porch. I've already got my gear packed; I planned on staying aboard tonight."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied with a grin, taking in the peace his best friend was emanating just now. He wasn't broody or down, it was just Lee Crane missing his Gray Lady and soaking in his first cruise back since the long three-month mission and six-week recovery from the broken leg. The crew wasn't scheduled to arrive until the next morning, so Chip knew Lee was looking forward to the quiet comfort Seaview brought her Master and Commander. "Wouldn't be surprised if the Admiral is on board already," Chip added.

"Yeah," Lee replied, his grin widening. "Better order lasagna and salad too," he amended.

"And three long necks," Chip added.

"All right, but _only_ three," Lee conceded, limiting their beers to one a piece the night before a launch, an unnecessary order for his by-the-books XO, and indeed delivered in jest.

"Spoilsport," the blond answered in a faux pout.

"Just keep your eyes on the road and mind your driving, Morton."

The two chuckled and then settled into boat business, comfortably discussing the issues of running a nuclear submarine.

 **VTTBOTS**

"Status Mr. Morton."

"Everything ship-shape and ready to answer bells, Skipper."

"Very well; all back, dead slow," Lee ordered as Seaview and her crew responded to his commands. He could feel the hums of her engines under his feet, as he expertly guided Seaview over the breakwaters, while the crew reveled in the return of their captain at the helm.

"Sonar report," Lee called once they were out to sea.

"All clear, Sir," Kowalski replied.

"Very well; Hydrophones?"

"All clear, Sir," Patterson answered as Lee shot over a devious grin to the pair, who both had an idea what was coming next.

"Very well. Mr. Morton, I hope she's battened down tight, because I intend to put her through the paces," Lee informed in his best command voice, as Harry watched effectively keeping his grin subdued, but failing to keep the gleam of satisfaction out of his blue eyes.

"She's ready at your command, Sir," Chip replied in his best XO voice, knowing that Lee was about to execute some serious Angle and Dangle maneuvers.

"Very well," Lee replied turning to look out Seaview's windows and ready to execute his first sharp turn, as Harry stepped up beside him.

"Welcome back, Lee," he said quietly.

"Thank you, Sir, it's good to be back," he returned, before smiling thinly as his apparent glee reached his own eyes. "Hold on to something, Sir."

Harry nodded both his understanding and approval as Lee turned toward the control room.

"Mr. Morton, on my command execute hard right rudder," he ordered, losing his grin and going all business as he commanded Seaview; the greatest boat to sail the seven seas… and the undisputed love of his heart.

 **The End**

.

 **A/N Thank you all for joining me on this rather different story, as I explored the twists and turns of a new genre. I trust you found the ride satisfying, despite its dark tone. It was my intention to post the story quickly, so that we could all return to happier themes while celebrating the season. And so I offer all Voyage readers this wish; May Fair Winds and Following Seas always guide you back home for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Subjockey**


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